Helping hands for homeless vets

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Grafton woman spearheads backpack project that reaches out to veterans in need

From her comfortable home on Blackfoot Court in Grafton, Pam Prosser thinks a lot about people who lack such creature comforts.

“I can’t help but think, especially this time of year, that here I am living in my warm, comfortable home while there are 1,500 people living without homes in Milwaukee,” she said. “That just tugs at my heartstrings.”

But Prosser is doing more than just thinking about the problem. She and a small group that includes her parents, friends and neighbors, are helping those who are homeless, in particular military veterans.

On a Saturday morning earlier this month, the volunteers gathered in Prosser’s garage where, in assembly line-fashion, they packed 100 backpacks with basic supplies such as blankets, personal items and snacks. Pictures of American flags colored by area students were also included.

The bags will be donated to the Milwaukee Homeless Veterans Initiative, which gives them to veterans living on the streets.

It’s an effort Prosser began in 2013 after a pilot project inspired by the sad story of a friend whose son became addicted to drugs.

“It got so bad with drug use and stealing that she finally had to tell her son that he couldn’t live at home any longer,” Prosser said. “So there was a period of time where he was homeless.”

Her first effort benefited Pathfinders, a Milwaukee organization that helps homeless youths. 

Then Prosser saw “Honor Flight,” a documentary featuring the Stars and Stripes Honor Flight project, which was founded in Port Washington, and the stories of communities that work together to fly veterans to war memorials in Washington, D.C.

She was touched, then saddened to learn that the majority of homeless people are veterans whose plights are sometimes the result of their service to their country.

“Honestly, I don’t understand how anybody can come back from war without PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder),” Prosser said. 

Since then it has been her goal to do what she can to help the homeless who have served their country.

Some years, she does it with donations from companies like Meijer, Costco, Home Depot and Harley-Davidson, where she works as a manager. This fall, volunteers chipped in to buy most of the items.

In 2013, there were enough items to fill 20 backpacks. That number grew to 53 in 2014. This year, the group packed 200 bags in January and another 100 last weekend.

“It’s just so sad to think that veterans, many of whom are suffering with conditions like PTSD, come home and wind up with nothing,” she said.

For more information about Prosser’s effort, go to www.facebook.com/backpacksforhomelessveterans or email her at backpacksforhomelessvets@gmail.com.

Image Information: GATHERED IN Pam Prosser’s Grafton garage to pack backpacks with supplies for homeless veterans earlier this month were (front row, from left) Parker Hunt, Prosser, Carol Bury, Lori MacGregor-Monte, Nancy Schultz, (back row) John and Janet Dolan, Larry Schultz, Pat Dano, Debbie Lorbecki, Mary Saunders, Donna Ohm, Meg Canepa and Erin Hunt.   Photos by Bill Schanen IV