A Homeless Female Veteran’s Journey to Take Back Her Life

Leah T. thinks about her struggles — the two years she was alone and homeless — and the long suffering in silence from the verbal abuses she endured in the US Army. It’s a trigger – the memory of the abuse, she explained – that brings her back to the places she’s longed to forget.

“I was 21 years old when a male soldier in Seoul Korea verbally abused me and I reported the incident and those memories are still fresh in my mind,” says Leah. “It got so stressful that I almost had a miscarriage,” adds Leah. “I was transferred to a less stressful job collecting items needed for incoming soldiers.”


Leah T. at HVAF

A year later, Leah traveled to Ft. Campbell, Kentucky and gave birth to her healthy baby girl. However, employment prospects seemed bleak and Leah became homeless in 2012. She entered HVAF supportive housing.

 “I like to think that I am not homeless here at HVAF because I have all these resources that I need,” she says. “When I am able to move on to permanent housing, HVAF has a program (SSVF) that will help me purchase a bed and a couch,” she says.

Today, Leah continues to utilize HVAF housing and is also an active runner with Back on My Feet, a national nonprofit organization that promotes self-sufficiency through running.