Victory House has significantly expanded since it was opened in 1985, and currently offers 40 beds to homeless men and veterans. When executive director Pat DiLuzio began working at Victory House in 1999, there were only 28 beds. The expansion to victory house occurred between 2006 and 2007 due to the higher demand after the economy took a downward turn.
"In the last several years, we've seen an increase in the number of clients coming through Victory House," DiLuzio said. "We've seen an increase in the number of veterans we served. So like in last year [2011] we saw 113 men come through victory house, and I believe it was 50 of them who were veterans."
DiLuzio said the economy in the past two to three years has caused low wages, resulting in poverty and forcing many clients of Victory House to become unable to afford housing. DiLuzio said other problems that land men and veterans in Bethlehem in shelters such as Victory House include medical issues and inability to afford medical insurance, along with drug and alcohol problems.
Victory House has 19 transitional housing beds, which are occupied by clients who will be staying at Victory House for an extended period of time and 21 emergency shelter beds, which are used in emergency cases. DiLuzio said there is a waiting list for beds in Victory House, and in the last six to eight months they have been close to full capacity.
DiLuzio said veterans typically stay at Victory House longer than other men due to particular issues they have such as post-traumatic stress disorder. On average, veterans will stay at Victory House for about seven or eight months but sometimes up to a year. Non-veterans typically occupy a transitional bed at Victory House for about four months.
Ron Zigler, a veteran client of Victory House, said homelessness due to unemployment has caused him to end up in the shelter. Despite his qualifications and certifications in forklift operations, warehouse logistics and chemical mixing, Zigler has been unable to find a stable job that would allow him to escape poverty. Zigler said he has a specifically hard time finding a job due to a minor criminal record he has, resulting from a simple assault charge.
DiLuzio said the population of homeless veterans in the Lehigh Valley is very close to the number of homeless veterans on the national scale. According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, 23 percent of the homeless population are veterans. However, DiLuzio said many veterans do not look for assistance despite their impoverished lifestyles, and therefore there is no way to get an exact number of homeless veterans in the Lehigh Valley.
Non-veteran clients of Victory House often end up there due to alcohol and drug abuse issues. DiLuzio said though Victory House caters to men between the ages of 18 to 65, the average age of clients is between 35 and 40.
"Typically, that's the individual who has maybe been in and out of rehab centers, have been homeless for a while, in and out of hospitals for medical reasons dealing with mental health," DiLuzio said. "And at some point in time anybody who has been addicted to drugs or alcohol comes to the conclusion that they cannot continue that way anymore because they've lost their family, they've lost their job, they've lost their house, they've lost everything."
DiLuzio said the biggest challenges clients of Victory House face after leaving include staying drug and alcohol free, affording health insurance, finding affordable housing and finding employment.
Donald Smith, a non-veteran client of Victory House, has been living there for a month. He said his mental disabilities (bipolar disorder and ADHD) along with an abusive relationship caused him to end up homeless. After thinking about committing suicide, Smith checked himself into a hospital, and is currently in the transitional period at Victory House.
"I have a very strong work ethic, but I have a hard time with people giving me a chance," Smith said. "If they just could see me work and not worry about my past, I would feel a lot better."
DiLuzio said there are eight homeless shelters in the Lehigh Valley, but there are still approximately 2700 men, women and children that remain on the streets within the area. He said the Lehigh Valley could use more shelters, but housing is the issue. DiLuzio said the Lehigh County Housing Authority is probably doing the best they can with the resources they have, but more funding is necessary to get homeless people off the streets, into the shelters and eventually into affordable housing.
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