Pasco County Stand Down is set for Oct. 24-26 at Veterans Memorial Park in Hudson.
The grassroots, community-based intervention program helps the nation’s estimated 67,000 homeless veterans manage life on the streets. The national program began in San Diego in 1988, and has since spread to include more than 200 similar events nationwide.
The local Stand Down supports homeless and at-risk veterans in Pasco, Hillsborough, Pinellas and Hernando counties. It provides a broad range of highly needed services, including food, clothing, medical and dental care, benefits advice, personal care, haircuts, entertainment, and mental health services.
It is sponsored by several local public and private organizations, including Saint Leo University, which will provide a select group of current and former Saint Leo master of social work students, along with faculty, to help the veterans out. The social work program is part of an institution service learning project that provided needed counseling for veterans while at the same time train newer social work clinicians in advanced, research-based counseling methods.
More than 125 veterans who are expected to attend will be offered free, confidential and supportive counseling services — the first time that such services are being offered at the event.
For more information on the event, which takes place at 14333 Hicks Road in Hudson, visit PascoStandDown.org.
