Shining light: Two local families given a brighter Christmas

View larger image Alishia Mitchell, 11, center, gets a hug from Daphne Mize, veterans outreach representative with the Virginia Employment Commission, as Alishia’s mother, Tammy Mitchell, looks on. The Disabled Veterans Committee on Housing and the Virginia Employment Commission joined efforts to offer a happier Christmas to the Mitchells, of Stephens City, and the Collins family, of Frederick County. T.J. Collins, 26, is shown at far right. Rich Cooley/Daily View larger image Mitchell hugs her daughter after the girl received an early Christmas present — a winter coat — from the Disabled Veterans Committee on Housing in Winchester on Tuesday. View larger image Collins carries a gift bag he received Tuesday for his family from the staff of the Virginia Employment Commission in Winchester. Homeless Veterans in the United States An estimated 131,000 veterans, male and female, are homeless on any given night. More veterans are considered near homeless or at risk because of poverty, lack of support from family and friends, and "dismal living conditions in cheap hotels or in overcrowded or substandard housing." The number of homeless male and female veterans of the Vietnam War era is greater than the number of people in the service who died during that war. A number of veterans of Operation Desert Storm are also appearing in the homeless population. Women make up approximately 3 percent of the homeless veterans population. The majority of homeless veterans are single and most come from poor, disadvantaged backgrounds. Homeless veterans tend to be older and more educated that homeless nonveterans. Approximately 45 percent of homeless veterans suffer from mental illness. More than 70 percent suffer from alcohol or other drug abuse problems. Approximately 56 percent are black or Hispanic. Family background, access to support from family and friends, and various personal characteristics appear to be stronger indicators of a risk of homelessness. -- Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

By Alex Bridges - abridges@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- A little more Christmas cheer came to a couple of local families this year thanks to a veterans advocacy group and the Virginia Employment Commission.

The Disabled Veterans Committee on Housing and the Virginia Employment Commission joined efforts to assist two families -- one nearly homeless and another that had no permanent home as of last week.

The Mitchells, of Stephens City, and the Collinses, of Frederick County, received laundry baskets full of food from both groups three days before Christmas. Daphne Mize, veterans outreach representative with the VEC, and John Lewandowski, president and chief executive officer of the veterans committee, presented the donations and gifts to the two families at his home and office Dec. 22.

T.J. Collins, 26, said his 50-year-old mother, Alice, started a new job Tuesday after having been out of work for 10 years. Mrs. Collins served in the U.S. Air Force from 1979 to 1983 and is currently seeking disability status, he said. T.J., who is fully disabled, has a 23-year-old brother, William, whom Mize has been helping to find a job.

"Finding [Mrs. Collins] employment was one of the main things that we really wanted to do, and we really wanted to show them that there is someone there standing behind them," Mize said. "John's standard quote is, 'We're not going to leave any veteran behind,' and during this time, these two, they brought themselves over to us with a challenge that we actually took on."

"And we have our own house again," T.J. Collins said. "The house is bigger than anything we've ever lived in."

The two-story house off Senseny Road is big enough for the family and Collins' therapy dogs, he said. "It's a wonderful house and we wouldn't have been able to do it without Miss Mize and Mr. Lewandowski and anyone else who helped."

T.J. Collins noted that the family received help from the Salvation Army and Northwestern Community Services and "countless" churches. When they lost their house, a local storage business stepped in to help, he said.

Earlier this month, employment office workers started collecting for the families, which they knew from trying to help them find jobs, Mize said.

The Collinses lost their home and had been living at Shoney's Inn on Berryville Avenue and then Echo Village on Valley Avenue since Dec. 1.

"However, they toughed it through," Mize said. "They just got their house. That is the best of the best for them to have a merry Christmas."

The Collinses also have pets, and Mize said her office tried to find a way to keep the family and their animals together.

"We know that some situations are a little bit more difficult when it comes to having pets, but during this season we didn't want to see that happen so we went the extra mile keeping them all together," Mize said.

Lewandowski recently appointed Mize to serve as the committee's director of veterans outreach. Mize, also a disabled veteran, served six years in the U.S. Army. Both continue to work with veterans to find homes and jobs for them.

"I help [veterans] anyway that I can possibly help them," Lewandowski said.

The Mitchells' situation, Mize said, "is sort of working itself out." The employment office continues to provide services for the family. Tammy Mitchell is actively seeking work, and the family has taken in a boarder to help bring in more money, Mize said.

Mrs. Mitchell said her husband, Daren, an Army veteran, is 40 percent disabled and remains in a wheelchair.

The employment offices likely will see more cases of homeless veterans seeking assistance, Mize said.

"There are some families, we understand, living in the woods, and you know it's really tough but what do you do?" Mize said.

Lewandowski started helping the Mitchells last year.

"He showed me what the true meaning of Christmas is, because that was something that was long forgotten, and my Christmas spirit came back tenfold last year," Mrs. Mitchell said. "Every time I think I'm gonna give up, all it takes is a phone call from John and my faith and my spirit comes back, and everything he's done is truly a blessing and a gift."

The employment office workers pitched in and bought gifts for the Mitchells' 11-year-old daughter, Alishia. The wrapped gifts sat under the tree, and Mize let Alishia open one before Christmas.

The girl carefully unwrapped the gift, which was a winter coat in her favorite color -- purple.

"She loves purple," Alishia's mother said.

"It's so pretty," Alishia said, hugging the coat close.

The Lord Fairfax Area Food Bank also donated a box of items to each family, Lewandowski said. And Shoney's Inn gave each family a free meal on Christmas, he said.

Mitchell said she is registered with the VEC and is actively seeking work.

"I'm just waiting for the right job to come along," she said. "We're getting there."

Mitchell thanked Lewandowski for the help he has given her family.

"I don't even know where to begin, I really don't," she said. "I'm so appreciative of John, because without him, truly, there have been several times when I would've just totally given up.

"Whether my husband is having a seizure or is having one of those days where he can't even get out of bed, and I call and I talk to John and he assures me that it will be OK."

The Mitchells live in a double-wide trailer in Stephens City, but the family wants to find another home -- one that might have a yard in which Alishia could play. Mitchell said the rules of their subdivision are strict. Her husband also has a canine to assist him.

The family members continued to thank Mize and Lewandowski for the food and gifts that made their holidays a little happier.

"Without these there really wouldn't be much of a Christmas," Alishia said.