Homeless veteran gets hand up from Wheaton shelter

Vietnam veteran Gordon Burkhalter knows the image the words “homeless shelter” conjure up in the minds of many — derelict, addict, uneducated and unable to manage money.

That wasn't him, not by a long shot. Burkhalter had been employed all his life until he returned to Chicago from the West Coast to care for his aging parents. His father died. His mother developed Alzheimer's disease. As the Alzheimer's progressed, Burkhalter quit a part-time job to care for her full-time.

The Park Manor neighborhood in Chicago where he lived turned violent at night. A neighbor was killed and gunshots triggered Burkhalter's post-traumatic stress disorder. Fearing for his mother's safety, he sent her to Atlanta to live with his sister while he turned to Hines V.A. Hospital in Maywood for help.

Hines had no immediate vacancies in programs that could serve Burkhalter, but found him a bed at the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans in Wheaton. Burkhalter soon enrolled in classes to update his computer skills.

Suffering from pain in his neck and right shoulder, he went to Hines for a physical at the urging of the shelter's staff.

Burkhalter was diagnosed with lung cancer. As he was recovering from that surgery, he learned he had colon cancer. Another surgery followed when the medical staff feared he also had lymphoma.

“I had four or five major operations in nine months,” Burkhalter said. “That put my job search on hold for quite while.”

Burkhalter recalled that Judy Mitsias, a house manager at Midwest Shelter, drove him to his first surgery on her own time and was with him at each of his subsequent surgeries.

“They've got a crack staff. They're all wonderful,” he said.

Burkhalter stayed at the shelter nearly two years, graduating this past July. For the past year, he's put his new computer skills to use at a job with Naperville-based 360 Youth Services, formerly NCO Youth & Family Services, and has an apartment in Lisle. He often returns to Midwest Shelter to visit.

“They're my other family,” he said. “The Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans is a shining beacon.”

Every veteran that goes through the shelter has his own story to tell, Burkhalter said. Some may be fighting substance abuse, need to earn their GED or learn to manage money. Others, such as Burkhalter, just need a safe place to get back on their feet when the circumstances of life have knocked them down.

“Sometimes circumstances are just a perfect storm,” Burkhalter said. “It's not a fault necessarily that places you in these situations.”

Burkhalter, a volunteer with veterans organizations, said he is taking life one day at a time while his health is still being monitored. He knows he might not be here at all if the shelter had not pushed him to care for his health.

“I'm a typical man. Even though I had some aches and pains, I probably would have just kept going until it was too late,” he said.

Full-service shelter

Burkhalter is one of 34 homeless veterans that have passed through the shelter's transitional program since it opened its doors in January 2007, said co-founder Robert M. Adams.

A Vietnam veteran himself and a licensed clinical social worker, Adams said all applicants are carefully screened before they are accepted in the program. They cannot have a dishonorable discharge from the military or any criminal history of violence or child abuse.

Burkhalter passed with flying colors.

“Gordon is one of the most honorable human beings I've ever met. He was highly motivated,” Adams said.

Residents of the home at 119 N. West St. in Wheaton are required to do household chores and help maintain the home. Burkhalter was not only ready to pitch in, but often initiated efforts to help, Adams said.

The shelter can house five veterans at a time and has a waiting list. A second home at 111 N. West St. will add six more beds, including space for a female veteran when it opens, possibly in January.

“We're virtually always full,” he said. “One in every three homeless men in America is a veteran. Part of it is because of experiences that they've had in the military creates problems.”

The shelter offers services that include education advisement, psychotherapy, substance abuse assessment and treatment, legal assistance, and independent living skills such as budgeting, housekeeping and meal preparation.

More than 100 volunteers help provide the veterans with transportation to appointments and other services.

The shelter is required to be staffed 24 hours a day, Adams said.

“Our staff is well-trained and they work intensively with each of the residents,” he said. “It's a very tightly run program. Very structured.”

Residents range in age from Vietnam veterans to veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq, Adams said. A typical stay is six to nine months. Seventy-one percent graduate with a job, a place to live and savings, he said.

Finding the funding

The shelter has a budget of $300,000 a year, Adams said. Part of that comes from grants, but 68 percent of the funding is from private donations.

One of the sources of donations has been the Cantigny 5K Run/Walk that will take place at 9 a.m. Nov. 5 on the Parade Field at Cantigny Park, 1S151 Winfield Road, Wheaton. Now in its sixth year, the time-chipped race is limited to 900 runners.

“We usually fill out the week before,” said race director Brian Gray.

The entry fee is $25, with a $5 discount for veterans. A Youth Run and Tot Run also are held. Net proceeds from the race go to the Midwest Shelter. Gray said that has amounted to several thousand dollars in the past, but it may be more this year because of additional sponsors Cantigny has obtained.

On the same day as the 5K, American Legion Post 556, which meets at Cantigny, holds a pancake breakfast from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. The cost is $6; $2 for ages 4 and younger. Proceeds support the VFW.

Staff and residents of the shelter help with both events, Gray said.

Burkhalter believes that efforts to help veterans paid off.

“Most people who find themselves in this situation are looking for a hand up, not a handout,” he said. “Thank goodness for the shelter. They really, truly helped me get back on my feet.”

For more information on the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans, visit its website at ">helpaveteran.org.

If you go

What: Cantigny 5K Run/Walk, fundraiser for the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans

When: 9 a.m. Nov. 5

Where: Parade Field, Cantigny Park, 1S151 S. Winfield Road, Wheaton

Cost: $25, $20 veterans

Register: <a href="http://signmeup.com/75571">signmeup.com/75571</a>