Bernadette Deveroix-Fox – U.S. Army

Bernadette came to us from a VA Peer Support Specialist in North Carolina. She had been living out of her vehicle, then more recently in a shelter with no heat from the winter chill. Bernadette entered the Army shortly after high school due to an abusive relationship. Unfortunately, she was also sexually abused during her first year in training, so she received a discharge. She left the military and attended culinary school, where she flourished in the industry. That training gave her the experience she needed to launch what grew into a hugely successful catering business.

After seventeen exciting years, the business experienced an extreme downfall. Although she struggled to keep the doors open, Bernadette finally succumbed to the mounting debts, and thereupon became homeless. For the next seven years she bounced between friends and finally the shelter. She was introduced to the Peer Support Specialist who introduced her to PSG. Within seven days she was approved and was moving into her own apartment – complete with “HEAT”.

After two years of residency at our location she re-established herself in the community and got her feet back under herself. In late 2019 she was contacted by a friend in Arkansas who needed assistance. She moved there and opened her own food service business where she is now THRIVING.

Glenn Vigne – USMC (Retired)

Glenn has been a longtime resident of ours at the Cove at NOLA community in New Orleans. He served numerous tours of duty in the Marines as a Military Police officer and machine gunner both abroad and stateside before retiring in 1974. Following the military, he began a career in law enforcement where he served for more than three decades as a deputy and a State Policeman.

Glenn is also an exceptionally skilled Martial Artist, having attained the rank of Grand Master and 8-degree Black Belt. He was also inducted into the Martial Arts Hall of Fame. For over 35 years he has worked with under-privileged kids as a Martial Arts Instructor throughout New Orleans, taking many of them to national competition.

In late 2018 he had a stroke, causing him to become totally blind. This forced him to retire from his role as a police officer and as an Instructor, and also put him in a position of extreme financial hardship. PSG worked with the local HUD VASH Team to get him a VASH Voucher, allowing him to remain at the Cove as long as he chooses to do so.

Paula Morales – Army Spouse

Paula moved into our Prairie View community located in Woodstock, Illinois, in the summer of 2019. She and her husband, a veteran of the Army, had fallen on rough times and were being moved out of their current residence and they had nowhere to go. Both of them also had medical issues to complicate their search for a new home.

With the help of TLS Veterans, one of the largest Supportive Services for Veterans and Families organizations in the region, Paula and her family were placed into a ground floor unit at Prairie View, right across from the playground. She now spends hours each week watching her many grandchildren play with the neighbor kids, and she’s as happy as can be.

Moses Hines – U.S. Army (Retired)

Moses joined the Army in 1981, and for the next twenty years he climbed the ranks in the military. After he retired from the military, he had a very difficult time adjusting to civilian life. He bounced from a collection of friends and family members until he ultimately found himself in a shelter in North Carolina.

One of the local Supportive Services organizations referred him to PSG, and we directed him to the local HUD VASH Team. They worked to get him on the VASH program, and we placed him into his new home in one of our communities there where he’s lived since mid-2018.

Moses has now started his own successful tree-removal and landscaping business in Winston-Salem.

Renorita Phelps – U.S. Army

Renorita is one of our residents in Winston-Salem, NC. She served several tours in the Army as a Weapons Specialist where she was stationed in South Carolina, South Korea, and Kansas. Upon her discharge from the Army she had difficulty applying her skills in tanks, machine guns, missiles and ammunition to civilian life.

She finally found a career in private security where she worked for fifteen years. In 2017 she experienced what was initially diagnosed with acid reflux, but it was later found to be serious heart blockages. Renorita was immediately admitted into the hospital where she underwent a double bypass, knocking her off her feet for an extended period of time. Complications from her surgery caused her to lose her job, where she fall into financial hardship, losing her new home and forcing her into a shelter.

She then suffered a nervous breakdown and was sent to the HUD VASH Team for Mental Health Counseling. Her VASH Peer Support Specialist introduced her to Patriot Services Group, where she was able to take advantage of their unique Veteran Application Criteria. She soon moved into her new home and is slowly but surely resuming a normal life without housing worries.

James Welsh – U.S. Army

James is one of our first Veteran residents in our North Carolina communities. He joined the Army right out of high school and was a cook. After several years in the military, he left due to the trauma caused by the death of his Mom. Civilian life proved to be difficult for him, and he bounced from job to job trying to “Fit in”. He ran into further problems when his fiance tried to kill him by burning down his home with him inside. He moved away from that situation, but ultimately became homeless, bouncing from shelter to shelter, suffering bed bugs, roaches and more.

His life turned around when he was introduced to one of the VA’s Peer Support Specialist, who pointed him in our direction. He moved right into our community, and has been a model resident since then, helping keep the common area clean and telling other Vets about our program.

Richard Tomlinson – U.S. Army

Richard was one of the first Veterans to move into our Prairie View community located in Woodstock, Illinois, in the late spring of 2019. He had formerly been living in a public Senior home but was in need of a new residence. As a Vietnam Veteran, Richard has numerous physical and mental challenges to deal with, and the relocation effort was taking its toll on him.

The VA helped connect Richard with TLS Veterans, one of the largest Supportive Services for Veterans and Families organizations in the region, who appointed a Senior Case Manager to assist with his move. The Case Manager directed Richard to Prairie View, and he was pleased with his new home right away. Due to his mobility challenges, he was given a ground-floor unit which greatly enhanced his ability to maintain himself.

TLS Veterans also provides him with onsite Counseling services from their office at Prairie View. He never has to worry about missing appointments as they are held right around the corner from his home.

Jake McCardwell – U.S. Navy Corpsman

Jake was a Navy Corpsman who currently resides at the 5-Star Veteran Center located in Jacksonville, Florida. He is currently enrolled at Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) under the GI Bill, and he’s taking several classes on his way to a degree. He also has numerous appointments at the VA Medical Center each month, and if he misses one, it gets rescheduled several weeks in the future.

He has no personal transportation, so he typically relied on the bus (which required multiple transfers each way), or bumming rides from other Vets at the Center which were infrequent at best and unreliable.

Needless to say, the logistics involved in getting back and forth to his classes and appointments were very challenging, causing him to frequently miss classes and more importantly, his medical appointments.

The Case Manager at 5-Star helped connect Jake with our Patriot Transportation Initiative in Jacksonville, one of many locations Patriot Services Group is providing Independent Transportation Services for Veterans and Families. Jake is now flourishing at school and has made nearly all of his other appointments. He is well on his way to graduation, and moving toward a career.

Joseph (Joey) Pierce – U.S. Marines

PSG has established a strong relationships with Affiliate Supportive Service for Veterans and Families (SSVF) organizations across the nation.  Joey Pierce is a resident of one of our local Affiliates, 5-Star Veterans Center in Jacksonville, Florida. 

Joey served several tours as an aviation mechanic and on security forces. He transferred to 5-Star from a residential center in Orlando.  For months his primary means of transportation to his frequent appointments at the VA Medical Center was his bicycle (weather permitting) or the bus.  Inclement weather and long waits for the bus gave him an easy excuse for missing his appointments.

Since the Patriot Transportation Initiative was deployed in Jacksonville, Joey has made frequent use of it.  He credits the PTI and the independent transportation resource for keeping him on track and helping him return to a much better mindset.