By Jay Hathaway, Toledo Free Press Staff Writer

Two groups in the area have made significant progress during 2012 in providing health care and housing for veterans.

The new VA Clinic in Toledo on Detroit Avenue opened Sept. 19. Toledo Free Press File Photo by Sarah Ottney

On Sept. 19, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) opened its new Community-Based Outpatient Clinic. The new facility is located at 1200 S. Detroit Ave., and, at 66,000 square feet, roughly doubles the size of its previous Glendale Avenue location.

The clinic had its official ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 9 during Veterans Day weekend and featured speakers Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Toledo Mayor Mike Bell and Brig. Gen. Mark E. Bartman, an assistant adjutant general of the Ohio Air National Guard. The event also featured the unveiling of the “Faces of Heroes” wall, a large art piece featuring the photos of 1,500 local veterans.

The ceremony was a huge success for the clinic and about 300 people attended, according to Derek Atkinson, VA public affairs officer.

The clinic is administered by the VA Ann Arbor Health system. Some of the new services offered at the facility include occupational therapy and an expanded physical therapy program. The latter also features an underwater treadmill.

Many of the established VA services are still offered, such as mental health treatment, and others have been upgraded for ease of access. Virtual medical services, such as a direct link to the Cleveland Veterans Benefits office, utilize technology to eliminate travel and communication lag.

Atkinson said he is excited for the future of the facility and the additions that will be made over time.

“We designed the clinic with expansion in mind,” Atkinson said.

Ken Leslie, founder of Veterans Matter. Toledo Free Press File Photo by Joseph Herr.

The VA clinic was not the only Toledo veterans group to receive a boost over the past year — another was aided by the power of rock stardom.

The nonprofit group Veterans Matter assists veterans who are screened and accepted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs Supported Housing program (HUD-VASH). The HUD-VASH program provides housing for veterans in need, but requires a rent deposit up front. Ken Leslie recognized this was a problem for many veterans, and co-founded Veterans Matter in February as a way to raise funds for the deposits. Leslie approached ProMedica’s Advocacy Fund for $26,250 to fund the idea and on Feb. 17, the first family was able to leave a shelter for their new home.

The group has made considerable strides in 2012, thanks in part to some assistance from a rock ’n’ roll legend, ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill.

Hill has been a longtime advocate for veterans, and when he learned about Veterans Matter, he saw an opportunity to get involved in his home state of Texas, as well as nationally.

“Dusty and his wife started the Houston Veterans Matter chapter, raising $16,000 the first day. This allowed us to house two waiting Houston veterans that very same day,” Leslie said.

Hill embarked on a radio tour of eight cities promoting Veterans Matter with an auction of ZZ Top gear. The auction raised $5,400 and one of the radio stations agreed to match that amount.

Leslie and ZZ Top have several other events planned for the future, including the “60,000 Soldiers Housed” campaign and may feature other music industry names.

Tags: Ken Leslie, VA, VA Clinic, Veterans Matter, ZZ Top

This entry was posted on Friday, December 28th, 2012 at 5:23 pm and is filed under 1Matters, Community, Veterans.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

In an interview with Toledo Free Press Star, Dusty Hill, the bassist and co-vocalist for ZZ Top, didn’t bring up the fame or fortune associated with being a rock star. Instead, he wanted to talk about a cause close to him: Veterans Matter.

The Toledo-based nonprofit provides rent deposits for veterans who are screened and aided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs Supported Housing program (HUD-VASH). Many unhoused veterans don’t have the means to pay the deposit or first month’s rent upon moving into new homes, something required for HUD-VASH housing programs.

“As a citizen of the United States, I just think that it’s a shame that men and women in the service are having a hard time getting housing when there’s definitely something that we can do about it,” Hill said.

He recently made a video to support Veterans Matter’s “60,000 Soldiers Housed” campaign.

“They told me the best thing I could do is to use my face a little bit or whatever, so I’m more than happy to do that,” he said.

Along with bandmates Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard, Hill has been rocking out (and rocking a long beard) for quite some time. ZZ Top has sold 25 million discs since 1970, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

Hits include “Sharp Dressed Man,” “Legs,” “La Grange,” “Got Me Under Pressure” and “Gimme All Your Lovin.”

The band will play an 8 p.m. show Nov. 1 at Stranahan Theater. Tickets are $48-$68.

Hill, a Dallas native who resides in Houston, said the Texas attitude has influenced the group’s music.

“It’s hard to say how Texas has influenced our music, because how could it not?” he said.

Hill said he, Gibbons and Beard listened to the same radio stations coming out of Mexico while growing up. When they met, they learned about their common pasts.

ZZ Top

“We had a lot of the same exact influences. It’s kinda like when you hear those weird stories about twins who grew up separate and when they met they went, ‘Wow,’” Hill said.

What keeps the group together is its sense of fun, Hill said, adding that he hopes that feeling extends to the audiences.

“This sounds clichéd, but we really enjoy playing music together, the three of us,” Hill said. “I hope that feeling is contagious. I mean, we’re having fun. I hope that allows people in the audience to have fun.

“Our audience is actually pretty mixed in age. [There are] people my age (63), but I see people in their early to mid teens out there,” he said, adding, with a chuckle, “We do have a new record out, but I don’t know how many people have heard it.”

Modesty aside, the September-released “La Futura” debuted at No. 6 on the Billboard 200. The album has some new influences — the single “I Gotsta Get Paid” is based on the rap song “25 Lighters” by DJ DMD with Lil’ Keke and Fat Pat.

“The original form, if you heard it, you wouldn’t think ZZ Top would get a hold of that, but there was something about it,” Hill said. “We made it our own.”

Rick Rubin, a record producer who has worked with everyone from Johnny Cash to Sheryl Crow, lent his talents to the album too, Hill said.

However, Hill noted that the album does not signify a career revival.

“I don’t like this resuscitate-career-type talk. There’s nothing wrong with our career because we’ve always worked,” he said.

Hill also said he may bring a program similar to Veterans Matter to Houston.

“I’ll talk to the people [while in Toledo] and try to get something going on where I live. You do what you can,” he said simply.

Veterans Matter started in February after a conversation between Ken Leslie, founder of homeless advocacy group 1Matters, and Shawn Dowling, the coordinator of Healthcare for Homeless Veterans of the Ann Arbor VA Health System. They were discussing what was missing from housing programs: rent deposits. Leslie approached ProMedica for support and was granted $26,250 from the health care system’s Advocacy Fund. Just 11 days after the project’s conception, a couple was able to move out of a shelter and into a home.

Hill said he appreciates the program’s straightforward approach.

“Money’s taken, money’s given and money’s paid and people are housed,” he said. “If I were in their place and I were coming home, it would be nice to have a place to go right away.”

Toledo also holds memories for ZZ Top.

“We played a lot of places. Toledo early on was just something that … felt comfortable,” Hill said. “It was always good to us. It’s always been fun playing Toledo.”

Tags: Billy Gibbons, Dusty Hill, Frank Beard, Johnny Cash, Ken Leslie, Mr. Atomic, Rick Rubin, Sheryl Crow, Veterans Matter, ZZ Top

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 30th, 2012 at 10:32 am and is filed under In Concert, Music, Philanthropy, Star.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

ZZ Top is throwing its clout and long beards behind Veterans Matter, a local nonprofit that aids unhoused veterans.

Veterans Matter provides rent deposits for veterans who are screened and aided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs Supported Housing Program (HUD-VASH). Most unhoused veterans don’t have the means to pay the deposit or first month’s rent upon moving into new homes, something required for HUD-VASH housing programs.

“This is such a beautiful, pure perfect program with 100 percent going to help people,” said Ken Leslie, founder of Veterans Matter and 1Matters.org, which also helps the unhoused.

ZZ Top will help with the nonprofit’s “60,000 Soldiers Housed” campaign, raising awareness for unhoused veterans. The campaign is named for the 60,000 unhoused veterans in the United States.

The group heard about the campaign through its publicist Bob Merlis, Leslie said.

“They happened to be in the area and things just evolved from there,” he added.

Merlis has known Leslie for a while and was eager to help when he was approached, he said.

“People who are in the armed forces risk their lives and they come back and are treated like dirt,” Merlis said.

Dusty Hill, who plays bass and sings for ZZ Top, made a video to support the “60,000 Soldiers Housed” campaign when the group was at a Michigan tour stop.

“It’s really disturbing that nowadays it has somehow become acceptable for American soldiers damaged by the physical or mental trauma of war to be abandoned, forgotten, and left homeless on the streets of our nation,” Hill said in a news release.

The band, known for hits like “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Legs,” will spread the word about unhoused veterans when it tours, Leslie said. He hopes this will inspire other cities to start programs like Veterans Matter.

The program started in February after a conversation between Leslie and Shawn Dowling, the coordinator of Healthcare for Homeless Veterans of the Ann Arbor VA Health System, about what was missing from housing programs. Leslie approached ProMedica for support and was granted $26,250 from the health care system’s Advocacy Fund.

Just 11 days after the project’s conception, a couple was able to move out of a shelter and into a home. Since February, Leslie said the nonprofit has helped 20 military families in 11 cities across the area.

“When we heard about [the program] we were most impressed. We appreciate that this program is not one of those feel-good virtual-fundraising-under-veterans’-names programs. They get in, get the job done and leave,” said Billy Gibbons, singer and guitarist for ZZ Top, in a news release. His band is set to release a new album, “La Futura,” in September.

“The entire band is behind this,” Leslie said of ZZ Top. “We view ourselves as a black ops mission helping soldiers down behind enemy lines.”

Visit www.veteransmatter.org.

Tags: Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Veterans Affairs Supported Housing Program, Ken Leslie, Veterans Matter, ZZ Top

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 30th, 2012 at 2:05 pm and is filed under Community, Economy.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Veterans Matter, a program that aids unhoused veterans, is a collaboration of several local and state groups.

“[Veterans] lay their lives on the line and it’s become acceptable in America for them to get beaten or killed on the streets, but if that happened behind enemy lines, there’d be outrage,” said Ken Leslie, founder of 1Matters, a local nonprofit supporting the unhoused.

Government entities Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs Supported Housing Program (HUD-VASH) provide housing solutions and case management to veterans.

Ken Leslie

“The government’s really doing this program right,” Leslie said. However, one component is missing — rent deposits. Most unhoused veterans don’t have the means to pay the deposit or first month’s rent upon moving into new homes, something required for housing programs.

“We don’t really do anything, but respond to that need, which is the deposit,” Leslie said. “It’s clean and simple. HUD-VASH already successfully identifies, screens and qualifies the veteran family and housing then provides the case management. For just $700 or so, we the people can take out the delays and get our unhoused veterans into housing.”

Leslie and Shawn Dowling, coordinator of Healthcare for Homeless Veterans of the Ann Arbor VA Health System, realized the need for deposits while talking Feb. 6 and didn’t waste any time. Leslie approached ProMedica’s Advocacy Fund for $26,250 to fund the idea.

“ProMedica is proud to support the Veterans Matter program through the ProMedica Advocacy Fund because our veterans, like all individuals, deserve quality housing. Through these partnerships we can improve the health and well-being of our citizens by providing for their basic needs,” said Randy Oostra, president and CEO of ProMedica, in a statement. The fund was established in 2010 and is administered by the Toledo Community Foundation.

After ProMedica provided the funds, the first family was able to leave a shelter for their new home Feb. 17, just 11 days after the project’s conception. The couple’s deposit was $438. So far, five families have been supported by the fund.

About 35 area veteran families, who may need funds from Veterans Matter, qualify for HUD-VASH housing. It is crucial that Veterans Matter reaches these families soon because there are only so many vouchers and dollars per year, Leslie said.

Leslie emphasized that 1Matters will continue its mission of helping everyone affected by being unhoused. “Our focus has not gone away from all of the unhoused. … No matter where you come from, if you’re on the streets, it sucks,” he said. Still, Leslie stressed the importance of helping unhoused veterans.

“We owe the ones who have been the most hurt and damaged by what they experienced fighting for our rights,” he said. Visit http://1matters.org/?page_id=1917 to learn more.

Tags: Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Veterans Affairs Supported Housing Program, Healthcare for Homeless Veterans, iMatters, Ken Leslie, ProMedica, Randy Oostra, Toledo Community Foundation, Veterans Matter

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 29th, 2012 at 6:34 am and is filed under 1Matters, Community.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.