The Veterans Home of California
What is a Veterans Home?
by Wes Barker, Project Director, Southern California Veterans Home Project, 1990-2002
This is a question that is often asked by those who have little, or no experience with the Veterans Homes
of California. The answer is both simple and complex. The simple answer is a facility where veterans can
come and find a therapeutic community dedicated to providing the required support to allow and encourage
members to live quality lives at the highest levels possible. From this simple descriptive base, the
operative description becomes much more complex.
Home members are veterans of military service ranging from WW II to Viet Nam, and sometimes their
dependents. The most obvious common characteristic relates to their military service. For each service
period represented, the experience of entering the military represented for many young men and women the
first introduction to others from different social and economic backgrounds from across the nation, and
the first opportunity to experience real responsibility. From the rigors of basic training to wherever
your careers may have taken you, you shared a code, a language, a perspective, and a commonality of purpose
which was service to your nation. As a reward for that service, a grateful State of California has
established a system dedicated to assuring that veterans, who have often sacrificed so much, are provided
care and support as the need develops.
The Veterans Homes are considered therapeutic communities in their entirety. The therapies may range from
a simple "good morning" to involved medical procedures. The caregivers may be members of the food service,
maintenance, security, medical, or nursing staffs, or a host of volunteers who are intimately involved in
providing service to members on a daily basis. In each case the care is tailored for the needs of the
individual. And because of the extraordinary relationships that exist in this rare situation, the
caregiver often experiences as much benefit as the recipient of the care.
Residents may become as actively involved in the affairs of the Homes as they desire by volunteering
their time in activities such as the resident-managed Allied Council, writing for the Homes' magazines,
or they may prefer to concern themselves with issues and pursuits of a more personal and private
nature-reading, painting, music or a large variety of other activities. As Home member Bill Bayless so
eloquently phrased it, "Come here to find peace or stand up one more time...Each to his dream." Choices
are a critical aspect of one's life, wherever home may be. And the Homes seek to provide those choices.
As in any community, opinions may differ on what the best approach may be to resolving an issue or starting
a new program or activity. At the Homes, you can always count on an active debate as solutions are sought.
This is healthy for the community.
Many residents develop strong bonds of camaraderie. The degree to which members provide care and concern
for each other is truly remarkable. There are instances where those facing certain functional limitations
form mutually beneficial relationships, where together they overcome their individual challenges - "I'll
help you with your brace and you can help me read my mail." This kind of sharing goes on all the time, and
is so common as to be taken for granted. One only has to reflect on the reasons for coming to the Homes to
realize just how remarkable these communities are. It is a common experience for veterans to have come to
the Homes in failing health, and sometimes in despair, and found they thrive on the many positive aspects
of life at one of the facilities.
And when life as we know it has ended, it is then that the real depth of caring is most poignantly revealed
by the dignified and often tearful responses to taps being played for fallen comrades. Concurrently, there
is also a sense of celebration in remembrance of a life well lived and made better by the opportunity to
have been a part of this extraordinary experience.