VFW and Good Shepherd Center host cookout for homeless veterans
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — VFW Post 12196 teamed up with Good Shepherd’s Sgt. Eugene Ashley Memorial Center in Wilmington on Sunday to provide hotdogs, steaks, wings, and hamburgers to homeless veterans. The Eugene Ashley center provides housing year-round for veterans who have no where else to go. Chris Pilloton of the VFW organized the event with the Good Shepherd Center.
“I think it’s real important. I think it’s our way of showing our support for them,” Pilloton said.
Veteran and Good Sheppard resident James McCoy added that homelessness is all too common among veterans returning home.
“When you go into the military too, a lot happens. You get traumatized there also,” McCoy said. “So, a lot of guys get displaced, you know, and then the drinking comes, they use something to replace that hurt, that pain, and that’s what happens to them. That’s why you see a lot of this out here, homeless and stuff like that.”
According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs, more than 35,000 veterans experienced homelessness in 2023. That’s a 7.4% increase from the year before.
