Once-homeless vets test job market

#Middlebury #Veterans

In the month since the homeless veterans had moved into the attic dormitory, three of them had gotten jobs of one kind or another. Sarge had gone banging on doors up and down the main street, looking for available work within walking distance.

The accountant-to-be, he of the formerly long hair and a face hidden by an immense beard, was keeping books and answering phones afternoons at a real estate office, wearing a clip-on tie and a collared shirt with the sleeves rolled down to cover the tattoos on his arm.

Another veteran was only working three nights a week washing dishes at a restaurant. “But he’s trying,” said Sarge. “He was out on the streets a long time, has PTSD, and a noisy restaurant kitchen is hard on him. He goes outside a couple times each shift and does breathing exercises with the stress app on his phone. He’s really trying. Restaurant owner loves him.”

The third dormitory veteran was working the building supplies pro desk at the hardware store, quietly mulling his options. “Store manager called me,” said Sarge as we stood outside the coffee shop’s back door. “Asked if I knew my veteran had once owned a construction company. I did not know that.”

Sarge had looked the guy up online and found an old website full of what he said were the most beautiful, high-end kitchens he’d ever seen, along with additions and custom playhouses. “And our boy was the company owner. He never said a word. Never says much of anything.”

“But here,” he said, pulling some pages out of his pocket and handing them to me. “I found these drawings in the trash.”

The sketches were floor plans for tiny homes with storage built-ins and loft bedroom space. At the top of the pages was the notation Veterans Village. The veteran’s initials were penciled in the lower corner.

Sarge smiled. “At least we know what he’s thinking about.”

© 2021 King Features Synd., Inc.