From Laconia Daily Sun:
“A Bridge for veterans and
their dogs”
(Joseph Krol and his dogs Blue –
seated – and Athena – standing.)
For Joseph Krol, a U.S. Army
veteran who served in Vietnam, there’s an invisible line etched in sand that
survives life’s wind and waves. It’s defined by a single expression, “Love me,
love my dog.” For Krol, age 72, that translates to living wherever he can, as
long as it’s with Athena, a nine-year-old American Bulldog-Dalmation mix, and
Blue, a nine-year old rat terrier. The canines are inseparable from from Krol,
and he from them. “They love you, plain and simple,” said Krol, who would
choose to live outside in his truck if he couldn’t find a place indoors with
Athena and Blue – a housing option that has been difficult to find or afford.
When the smaller dog suffered a debilitating stroke in October, “I told God,
you can’t take this dog now. I need him. I told God, it’s what I want for
Christmas.” Krol’s eyes turn glassy when he smiles down at the scruffy canine
dressed in a sweater with little squirrel ears, who gazes back and struggles to
stand with Krol’s help. It’s a bond that has endured the ravages of time.
Thanks to The Bridge House, which
aids veterans down on their luck who are “living rough” outside or wherever
they can find a place to hang their coat, Krol has not been forced to make the
choice between affordable housing and keeping Athena and Blue. After three
months at Bridge House, followed by a stay at the Copper Top Inn, which
welcomed him and his dogs, Krol now has an apartment in Plymouth above a flower
shop and nursery on Tenney Mountain Highway – a place where he can grow beans,
corn and tomatoes out back and glimpse flowers in spring. “This
is a safety net,” said Cathy Bentwood, a registered nurse and executive
director of Bridge House, which began in 1989 with eight beds and now offers
more than 20. It’s the state’s only shelter that accepts pets, which serves
veterans of military service who are without permanent addresses. It also helps
veterans who have critical financial needs they cannot meet with their limited
resources. “We have a unique commitment to people who served,” said Bentwood. That
mission is critical today, considering less than one percent of the US
population has enlisted or served. The Veteran’s Administration committed to
ending veteran homelessness by 2015, but the challenge remains .Three years
ago, when Krol returned to New Hampshire, where he grew up, from Florida, where
he had worked as a trucker, The Bridge House was a waystation that eliminated
the choice between having permanent or temporary shelter and losing his life’s
companions. Most of the guests at The Bridge house are older, single men. Many
lack connections with human families. A dog “is the one faithful companion who
expects nothing,” said Bentwood. It’s an
abiding source of love that people in crisis are loathe to surrender, said
Freeman Toth, an outreach worker for Belknap-Merrimack CAP, who helps people
who have lost housing, jobs or both. “It’s what they’ve got left. It’s their
last thing. For a lot of people it’s their Alamo” – their last stand against
grief, and a living connection that brings joy and hope. Toth said his clients
will often chose to camp in their vehicles before they will give up pets who
are more loyal than most of the people they’ve known. For veterans who served
during war time then returned to a society with little knowledge or
understanding of what that was like, a pet means guaranteed acceptance, a
ready-made and non-judgemental family in a world where humans are fickle, and
lasting relationships are few.
(Brian Farmer and Sammy)
Brian Farmer, 77, an Air Force
veteran, has lived at Bridge House for two years. His closest connection is
with Sammy, a 12-year-old brown lab mix, who shares his room at the shelter and
sits quietly with him in the living room. Farmer recently had a stroke and if
it weren’t for wanting to live out his days with Sammy, he would likely reside
in a nursing home, Bentwood said. “If Sammy couldn’t be here, I wouldn’t be
here,” Farmer said. “He’s my closest friend. I love him. It’s like he’s a
member of the family.” That deep
connection sustains Krol, who was invited, along with Athena and Blue, to
Thanksgiving dinner at The Bridge House, even though he now lives in his own
apartment on Tenney Mountain Highway. When his terrier collapsed suddenly in
October, Krol thought he, too, would fall apart. “I was crying for days,” said
Krol. A devout Catholic, he prayed and went to Mass to collect holy water to
sprinkle on Blue. “I was praying, God, please don’t take this dog from me.” “I
take them everywhere,” he said. “All around Plymouth. “They hop in the back of
the truck, wherever I go.” The trio is a cause celebre at Biederman’s Deli on
Main Street, where Krol orders a breakfast sandwich for himself and two sausage
patties which he breaks up and feeds to the dogs.
Fundraising enabled The Bridge
House to purchase special insurance that covers residents with canines, most of
whom are mixed-breed. The policies available won’t allow the shelter to accept
those considered too risky around strangers, including Dobermans, Rotweilers,
pit bulls, and German Shepherds. THE Bridge House makes it work by placing
child safety gates in the doors of residents’ rooms, requiring dogs to be on
leashes elsewhere in the house and outside, and requesting residents to clean
up messes indoors and out.
In the past two years, Belknap
House, a shelter on Court Street in Laconia for homeless families, has received
two requests from families who would like to bring their dogs or cats – an impossibility in close communal living
with young children, and others who may have allergies, according to staff. Separating
families from furry family members is not ideal, especially for uprooted people
already experiencing loss, house manager Tom Sica concedes. Belknap House board
member Lee Cheshire tries to find temporary placement for pets, including
kennels, veterinary practices and foster families who are equipped to accept
them temporarily. “It’s sad, a mother and a teenage boy living in a car with a
pet, and we couldn’t take them in. We don’t have the ability to have dogs with
the families, with the families so close to each other,” said Cheshire. “Homelessness
is a time of tremendous upheaval and loss, whatever the cause,” said Sica. “To
separate from a family pet that’s given solace is an extraordinary ask of people.”
In the past year, the two families with dogs opted not to come to Belknap
House. One went to live with friends who were willing to include their pet.
“This is part of the trauma of being homeless, the things you have to give up,”
said Sica. “The focus around a pet is not imagined.” “It’s a living, breathing
thing they have history with. It’s not a possession, it’s a companion,” said
Toth. “It’s a family member.” A single person who’s had a pet for 10 years
“would rather die in their car with their pet than separate,” said Toth.
For most shelters, hygiene and
safety concerns are a deal-breaker when it comes to hosting animals, even for a
brief stint. “What might be a source of safety and security for one person
could be a source of anxiety” or medical issues for another, said Sica. “The challenge is we’re in communal living
with little children.” At its location on Court Street, Belknap House has no
room for a kennel, and leaving a pet unattended all day in a room is not safe
or optimal. Toth encourages his clients who are asked to
give up pets to search for foster pet care on Facebook, which has groups of
users who rescue pets, and spread the word until a solution is found.
The Bridge House, with mostly
single residents and few children, can be more flexible in its mission – which
is to serve veterans’ where they’re at, in recovery or in times of housing and
food insecurity, sometimes after years of struggle. In October, Temple B’Nai
Israel of Laconia’s annual “We Care” concert raised $24,000 for The Bridge
House, and this month the congregation presented the charity with a check for
the event proceed: $8,435. Of that, $4,760 went to Joseph Krol to repair the
engine on his truck. Krol had originally approached Bridge House to co-sign a
loan – he didn’t want a gift. An account was set up through Bank of New
Hampshire, linking Krol’s monthly repayments to Bridge House’s account. With
help from the We Care donation, the amount Krol will have to pay back will be
reduced to $3,700.
For the former Bridge House
resident, that’s a blessing without any disguise, and another reason to be
thankful this holiday season. Krol said he is grateful, too, for the apartment
he can afford with his VA and Social Security checks. He counts the 19 steps he
climbs to get there each day. They’re well worth the opportunity to live above
a florist and next to a flower garden. Flowers are what Krol delivered for
years when he drove his tractor-trailer from Florida to stores as far north as
Minnesota. “I lived in the rose capital
of the world,” he said. “It was also the fern capital of the world.” To donate
to the The Bridge House or for more information, go to tbhshelter.org
^ This is so important (to help Veterans and to keep them
and their dogs or cats together.) Each helps the other. More places across the
country and the world need to do this. ^
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