WELCOME HOME! FOCUS ON HOUSING FOR VETERANS

Date: September 17, 2015, 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Location: at the historic Camarillo Ranch

Attendance: 150+ supporters of affordable housing and the military community.

Funds raised at the Welcome Home! event support projects that create new, affordable housing in Ventura County.

Cocktails and tapas on the West Lawn
Guests enjoyed delicious food provided by Command Performance and refreshing beverages. Thank you to:

Montecito Bank & Trust for sponsoring the wine & beer garden

Dyer Sheehan Group for sponsoring the coffee & dessert bar

Young’s Market and the Velarde Family for donating the wine and beer.

Naval Base V.C. Color Guard and National Anthem
Thank you to the members of the color guard at Naval Base Ventura County for initiating the event program with a presentation of the flag. Following, local Girl Scout Nathaly Gomez (troop 60192) beautifully sang our national anthem.
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Entertainment: New Directions Veterans Choir
The New Directions Veterans Choir is an award winning a-cappella group comprised of men and women who have served proudly in the United States Military and subsequently became homeless. “Through singing, we hope to let veterans who may be suffering know that there is hope for them.”

Keynote speaker: Darryl Vincent
Darryl VincentDarryl J. Vincent has been with U.S.VETS for 11 years. As the Chief Operating Officer, he is directly responsible for the supervision of Executive Directors at all 11 sites, along with national administration of the overall operations of U.S.VETS. As a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, Mr. Vincent has a sincere compassion for the veteran community. After his military service, Mr. Vincent went on to receive his Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services, is a Certified Substance Abuse Counselor, and holds a Master Degree in Social Work from the University of New England.

During Mr. Vincent’s leadership in Hawaii he was recognized in 2007 as one of the “ten people who made a difference in Hawaii”.  In 2008, he was awarded the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans “Unsung Hero” award. He served as Chairperson for the entire Continuum of Care from 2010-2013 providing testimony at state and federal levels, advocating for veterans and homeless services in Hawaii. Beyond his professional community involvement, Mr. Vincent is a Weinberg Fellow and proud member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.

“any veteran who sleeps on the same streets he/she was once asked to defend is a dishonor to all of us, and it is our job at U.S.VETS to work ourselves out of a job”.

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Welcome Home baskets
IMG_20150805_103145709_HDRWith the help of local Girl Scout Isabel Marselian (silver award project) fifteen baskets, each valued at over $700, were compiled for the veterans moving into the new homeless-veteran transitional center in Ventura (Turning Point Foundation). One of the baskets was displayed at the event, with guests helping to sponsor a basket. Each basket contained practical items such as bed and bath linens, hygiene products, laundry supplies, books, bus pass, and gift cards for hair cut, entertainment, clothes and restaurants as well as an i-pad to be given upon program graduation. A huge thank you to our basket donors:

COMPANIES
Blenders in the Grass ♦ California Lutheran University ♦ CostCo ♦ Del’s Hair Designs ♦ Elks Lodge #2477, Thousand Oaks ♦ For the Troops ♦ Gold Coast Transit ♦ Island Packers ♦ Museum of Ventura County ♦ Rosewood Dental Group ♦ Seabees of Naval Base V.C. ♦ Target ♦ Ventura Improv Company ♦ Vietnam Veterans of V.C. ♦ Vons ♦ Wood Ranch BBQ & Grill

INDIVIDUALS
Charles Maxey ♦ Colleen McCarthy ♦ Dawn Dyer ♦ Deborah Garcia ♦ Diane Watts ♦ Donna Sepulveda-Weber ♦ Emma Rose Rush ♦ Eugenia Traverse ♦ Jeannine Ugalde ♦ John & Karen Fraser ♦ Lucianne Ranni ♦ Marni Brook ♦ Mary Ann Worley ♦ Ralph Velarde ♦ Sean Morreale ♦ Siran Marselian ♦ Sophia Cosola ♦ Verne Brizendine ♦ Zareh & Nicolette Marselian

Table centerpieces raffle
Girl Scouts in the Camarillo area provided us with table centerpieces and helped at the event. The charming centerpieces were used as prizes for a raffle.

Veteran Appreciation
VetsAttendThe event was attended by a large number of veterans, many of whom were provided with free donated tickets.  The veterans were honored during the event for their service.
Congresswomen Julia Brownley, a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, presented VCHTF with a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition.