Operation Reveille

On a warm November 11^th, dignitaries, including General Lloyd J. Austin III, Commander of U.S. Central Command located at MacDill Air Force Base and Mayor Bob Buckhorn, joined other local and national politicians in front of the Port of Tampa Bay Terminal #2 in downtown Tampa to thank those whose efforts have placed numerous veterans in homes and to discuss community leaders’ plans to end homelessness of our veterans. Other participants included Commissioner Sandy Murman, business and civic leaders, and dozens of volunteers, sporting bright orange Operation: Reveille t-shirts, from groups fighting to eradicate homelessness among our Veterans.  Operation: Reveille is in part driven by the President’s challenge that each of us have an obligation to do more to end veterans’ homelessness by the end of the year.

Kicked off by a rousing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner, the event, organized by the Tampa Hillsborough Homeless Initiative (THHI) and its new CEO, Antoinette D. Hayes Triplett, featured impassioned speeches from the Mayor and General Austin. Mayor Buckhorn acknowledged Tampa’s link to the military saying “…make no mistake about it, Tampa is a military town.” Buckhorn continued:

“This is a city that loves its military members. They are our friends, they are our neighbors, they are our sons and daughters, they are our husband and wives, aunts and uncles…they are all part of our family… and we honor them every day for doing a job for us that we are not capable of doing ourselves…”

Mayor Buckhorn thanked local leaders, like the owner of a national furniture company that has donated generously to furnish hundreds of apartments for veterans. He continued to rousing applause as he summarized our need to help those in need amongst us when he said: “We are a giving community. We have an obligation to reach down and help people up along the way, particularly people who have served us and sacrificed for us.”

Gen. Austin, Mayor Buckhorn with Chief of Police

General Austin discussed the need to honor the service of our veterans by assisting those who have fallen on hard times, saying they need “not a hand out, just a little bit of help.” He also thanked the many volunteers, representing dozens of organization and concluded his remarks by challenging all parties to keep up their efforts because they were making a difference: “Thank you for seeing the men and women in need of help; rather than looking away, you’ve reached out to them. You lend a hand and you make an enormous difference in their lives.”

Ms. Triplett, new to Tampa and with her proud mother in the audience, spoke about the work her military background, her passion to help those fellow veterans in need, the work that’s already been done in the Tampa/Hillsborough County area, about the support from leaders like Mayor Buckhorn and Commissioner Murman, and finally pledged to the audience that together they would take up the President’s challenge and house every homeless veteran by the end of the year! In addition to a few other speakers, a veteran finally spoke and it was none other than Catholic Charities own client, Tiffany Lara, an Army veteran whose family fell on hard times upon her return from the middle east as her husband lost his job following a stroke. Tiffany spoke eloquently about their need and her thankfulness for the assistance of others. She echoed the General’s and Mayor’s comments that all she and her family needed was a hand up. Now, employed with a “successful career; not just a job…flipping hamburgers” Jennifer said: “We’re so unbelievably grateful. No words could ever explain to you what you’ve done for us. You’ve changed our lives. I have a successful job, my children have clothes on their back…”

Catholic Charities Veteran Rapid Rehousing Client, Tiffany, speaks

Tiffany (photo above) thanked her Catholic Charities’ case worker, Lauren Lambert as she said of her: “…has not just been a case worker, but a friend; she’s become part of our family.” Tiffany echoed the words of Mayor Buckhorn and General Austin as she insisted “we don’t need a handout, we just need a little bit of help. Everybody has that moment that they stumble in their life.” She finished her remarks by encouraged the group to keep the fight going on more than just this one day, but everyday: “But it’s not enough to just do an event…on Veteran’s Day…we need everyone to know what is going on…you can spread the word…tell people what’s going on…to help one person, your not just helping, your changing a person’s life, a family’s life.”

Lauren assists two Vets

Mark and Mayor Buckhorn

After so many words, actions were in order. The day concluded with volunteers catering to the needs of the veterans in attendance by serving them lunch, and assisting them with their educational, banking, vocational, employment and housing needs.  Catholic Charities was well represented by Director, Maggie Rogers, and her six members of her team, including Lauren (yes, that Lauren), Aziz, Ali, Suzanne, Anisa and Beatrice along with Mark Dufva, Executive Director of Catholic Charities. While Maggie and her team tended to the vets, Mark took the opportunity to follow up on earlier conversations and speak with Mayor Buckhorn bout several other opportunities to tackle the broader homeless population within the Tampa city limits.

When the day was done, words were matched by deeds as hundreds of homeless veterans were helped. While no one really knows if every homeless veteran has shelter, the people that shared this day will not stop until all those homeless vets who want the stability of a life that includes permanent housing get one. Our hope is that next year’s Operation: Reveille is a sparsely attended affair because we have achieved the mission of eradicating veteran’s homelessness in the Tampa/Hillsborough county area!