This blog post is part of HVAF’s annual tradition: 12 Vets of Christmas, where each day for 12 days, we feature a veteran whose life has been positively changed because of the essential services and programs your support made possible in 2023. Thank you for supporting HVAF and our veterans.

Addictions & Homelessness

“I’ve been homeless about 7 times in 23 states.”

After serving in the Army and the Marines in the 1980s, Leroy found himself homeless. He also battled an addiction to drugs and alcohol.

“I used to smoke crack cocaine and I used to run from crack cocaine, and I didn’t realize that transitioning from one state to another that it would still be there, but it was,” Leroy said. “Even at the Greyhound bus station when I got off the bus, it was there.”

Four decades later

It wasn’t until almost four decades later, when Leroy ended up in Indiana, that he found sobriety. He came to Indiana in December 2020 for cancer treatment. Since then, he has lived in HVAF’s transitional housing for two years and has lived in HVAF’s permanent housing since the beginning of this year.

We can’t ensure veterans, like Leroy, receive life-changing services to reach self-sufficiency without your support. Will you continue to support veterans in need and invest in the fight to end veteran homelessness by sending in your most generous gift by December 31st? Please send in your year-end tax-deductible donation to support Hoosier Heroes in 2024 .