Veterans shelter celebrates anniversary

The Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans in Wheaton will celebrate its 10th anniversary Sunday by paying tribute to co-founder Bob "Doc" Adams, who has retired from its board of directors.

The celebration will begin at 4 p.m. at Arrowhead Golf Club, 26W151 Butterfield Road in Wheaton. Tickets are $125 and details are available at helpaveteran.org.

The shelter operates on the concept of no veteran left behind due to homelessness, joblessness, poverty and/or mental-health issues.

In 1968, Adams was a skinny 20-year-old who was blind in one eye when he left south suburban Oak Lawn for Vietnam.

After serving as a Navy corpsman in battle alongside Marines, he returned home a little more than a year later with a host of substance abuse issues.

If it wasn't for his mother taking him in when he couldn't pay his rent, he might have ended up homeless.

Adams sought help for his addictions, eventually going back to college and earning a master's degree in social work.

Later, he opened a private practice where he counseled veterans, police officers, firefighters and others who had experienced traumatic situations.

He also wrote "Place of Angels," an autobiographical account of his experience as a Navy corpsman during the Vietnam War, as he sought to care for wounded Marines amid a conflict that was both exasperating and horrifying.

"Place of Angels," directed by Dexter Bullard and starring actor Jeff Still, premiered at A Red Orchid Theater in Chicago in 2000. The play was reprised at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre in 2006.

In 2007, using seed money generated by staging "Place of Angels," Adams, along with Gulf War veteran Dirk Enger, co-founded the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans in Wheaton, which offers housing and supportive services to help homeless and at-risk veterans and their families return to self-sufficiency.

Those interested in making a donation, volunteering or learning more about the shelter can visit www.helpaveteran.org or call (630) 871-8387.