Berkshire

Veterans

Residence

Pittsfield,

Massachusetts

Introduction

The Developers United Veterans Berkshire Housing

The Member

The Residents

The Numbers

Tour the Site

Eugene Vereen and Michael LaFleur

Eugene Vereen in his studio apartment at the Berkshire Veterans Residence.

Eugene Vereen lives and works at the Berkshire Veterans Residence. At the time of this interview he was a resident and staff member at the United Veterans of America (UVA) homeless shelter in Leeds, Massachusetts.

I went to the UVA shelter [in Leeds, Massachusetts] a little over three years ago. My life was really going in the wrong direction. I also had a medical problem — a big spot on my lung that they first thought was cancer but turned out to be a deep infection. They had to remove a quarter of my lung. I had to go up to the Veterans Hospital in Jamaica Plain, Boston for the operation.

Being at UVA has been a great help to me. It helped me get my life in order so that today I'm a responsible individual. I've had over three years of sobriety and I've been able to give back what was given to me through the help of the people here and the staff.

Now I'm a resident staff person at the UVA. I work four days a week and am in charge of the second shift. When veterans go out on the weekend, they have to take urine and Breathalyzer tests when they come back. I also take part in the New Way of Life group that meets once a week. I'm really involved. I'm all for helping the veterans.

I feel that my life is getting better and better. When I had the opportunity to move to the new Pittsfield residence I decided to take it. I wanted to take my life a step further. This was a great opportunity for me to help other veterans, just as I was helped by people when I arrived here.

Brian Jollimore in his transitional room at the Berkshire Veterans Residence.

I plan to move into one of the studio apartments in the new Berkshire Veterans Residence in Pittsfield (which opened in the fall of 2004) and continue to work as a resident staff member for the UVA.

I've been in and out of facilities for over half my life. I'm 66 years old. At an early age I began drinking and using drugs. It took over my life and I didn't have a sense of direction.

For most of my life I haven't had any self-esteem. I had just about given up. I had periods of sobriety but I just couldn't maintain them.

Now I have a new way of life, and it's great. I feel like I'm a better person. My self-esteem is tremendous, but I still go to my meetings and need to stay focused on a day-to-day basis.

Through the support of Jack Downing and other people at the UVA — the faith they had in me and their counseling — I was able to change my life. I was skeptical in the beginning, but today I feel like Jack is a man of his word. He's helped the veterans in many ways. I've been given another chance at life, and I've been willing to do my part — willing to do whatever it took to change my life. Today I feel like a responsible person again.

I was born in South Carolina but was raised in Connecticut. I played a lot of sports at an early age. I had a shot at the major leagues but drugs and alcohol just dominated my life. I had natural talent but I didn't have what it took inside.

I was in the Air Force for four years. I was stationed overseas in Okinawa. I was an intercept operator and had top-secret clearance.

Moving to Pittsfield is a great opportunity for me to take that next step. I'll be living somewhat on my own and will have to be responsible. I feel that I'm able to handle things much better now. It's all about integrity with me now.

I've seen the new place in Pittsfield. I think it's going to be a plus for me in my older years that I can be of some help to veterans who are going through the same thing that I have gone through.

Michael LaFleur is a resident staff person at the Berkshire Veterans Residence. When he spoke he was living and working at the UVA shelter in Leeds.

A resident in his transitional room at the Berkshire Veterans Residence.

I came to the UVA because I was suffering from suicidal depression. I lost my family and my home. I just gave up.

Then a friend of mine told me about this place, and I've been here ever since. It has been almost four years now.

I would probably be dead now if it wasn't for the UVA. I was a victim of a big fire that took place in Holyoke a couple of years ago. I was born and raised in Holyoke. After that I just gave up. My mother died a few weeks before that and she was the only one I had left.

When I came up here they put me through a program. I don't drink or do drugs (I never liked the taste of it). Then one day one of the staff asked me if I wanted a job here serving the vets. I said, "Yeah," and I've been doing it for almost three years now. I fell in love with the job. I'm a staff resident now.

The people I've been working with here have helped me a lot. They've talked with me and made me feel I was needed; they told me I could help other vets. I said, "I don't know. I never did this kind of work before," and they said, "Give it a shot."

Before I came here I was a warehouseman. I did the same job in the service. But I found out I'm good at doing this kind of work.

Now I want to go to Pittsfield and live in one of the apartments there. At the shelter you have a little bit of privacy, but not much. I'd like to have a little bit of privacy, especially on my days off.

I was in the Marines during the Vietnam era. I was in the service for three years. I got an early out because I did two tours in Nam. When I left Vietnam I just left it there; I didn't bring it home.

I'd like to just keep doing what I'm doing now, serving these guys. I got a wonderful crew I'm working with. The guys are all great; they go out of their way to help everybody. I like that; I like that very much.