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r’s sacrifice comes not only during war, but after they return home. Many veterans face mental health problems after their service, and do not have a means of fixing it. Others cannot find or afford housing and end of homeless. Assistant director of Veteran Services, David Pearson, specializes in providing housing and personal case management to veterans who are struggling. This includes those that are currently homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless. “We provide job searches and disperse money for housing if needed,” Pearson explained.
Pearson’s experiences during his jobs are extremely fulfilling. Not just coordinating events and cases from the outside, but being involved is part of his job as Assistant Director. “There was a Vietnam veteran who was divorced with PTSD, and we hooked him up with services, and got him in the apartment. We have the check, he looks at it and he breaks down crying saying ‘I’ll pay you back.’ And we get to say to him, ‘don’t worry, your services paid for this.’” Pearson explained that these kind of cases are common for veterans in and around New Jersey. “There’s a certain kind of humility to it,” said Pearson “I think this is what Catholic Charities is all about.”
In the 80s, David Pearson’s career at Catholic Charities started as being a buddy for and AIDS program at Catholic Charities’ Hope House. The buddy program was a way to personally provide company and care to those enrolled in the Hope House. His career has always been centered around providing personal help for those in need. “Housing and homelessness has always been my focus at Catholic Charities,” Pearson explained. Afterwards, he became a case manager for the “Housing Opportunity for People with Aids” program, helping find and providing housing to those who needed it.
As Assistant Director, Pearson’s job includes advocacy for veterans. Veterans struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injuries (TBI) can be put under stress from seemingly small situations. Pearson has had case of some veterans thinking that garbage cans on the side of the road are bombs. For these individuals, driving long distances can be a struggle. In his position, Pearson took this opportunity to make a Community Based outpatient Clinic (CBOC) just fifteen minutes away from one of his client’s houses. “Fifteen minutes vs an hour can make a big difference in someone’s life,” Pearson explained. His goal is to make veterans lives easier for veterans on any level.
After extensive work of helping veterans struggling homelessness and trauma, David Pearson has garnered the experience necessary to make the new Catholic Charities better in the future. He has organized events like Clothes Closet, given easier access to help from Veterans, and personally managed cases both indirectly and personally. Pearson is excited for the change of merging of Catholic Charities branches and looks forward to the work he will do in the future.