Signal Tribune Newspaper

Dr. Jennifer Grigoriou is a clinical psychologist who works as a case manager at the U.S. Vets site in Long Beach’s Villages at Cabrillo.

According to the most recent U.S. Veterans Administration (V.A.) statistics, on any given night in 2009, more than 75,000 U.S. veterans were homeless. In that same year, more than 136,000 veterans experienced homelessness at least temporarily.
“Approximately five percent of the homeless veterans are women,” said Dr. Jennifer Grigoriou, a clinical psychologist who works as a clinical case manager at the U.S. Vets site in Long Beach’s Villages at Cabrillo.
According to Grigoriou, there are about 166,000 female veterans nationwide, and most of them live in California. She explained that U.S. Vets is on the cutting edge of the development of programs specifically designed for female veterans. “In 2007, when they began developing the women’s programs, no one else had thought to do so,” she said, adding that only the Long Beach U.S. Vets site offers services and programs tailored for female veterans.
“Out of the 550 vets that we house here, only 50 of them are females,” Grigoriou said, adding that the female veterans’ transitional-housing program was started in Long Beach in 2007. She also explained that in the early years of the program, the main emphasis was on helping the female veterans overcome drug and alcohol habits and addictions. As the program continued, however, U.S. Vets staff discovered that many female veterans were having a harder time overcoming obstacles than their male counterparts.
“There are a lot of factors that contribute to a female veteran becoming homeless,” Grigoriou said. “Things like little or no social support, no family to depend on, substance abuse, domestic violence, and depending on someone else for the basic necessities of life are all things that impact women very strongly.” She added that women who have experienced military sexual trauma (MST) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have an even more difficult time coping with civilian life.
“We discovered that many female veterans need more than just a few months in our transitional housing to recuperate,” Grigoriou said. “That’s why we now house the women here for up to two years.”
The housing consists of six-bedroom units with two women to each bedroom. There are also residences set aside for veterans who are single moms. In those units, a mother and up to two of her children share each bedroom. The women may stay in the housing for free until they are able to obtain some kind of income. At that point, they are asked to pay up to $200 per month.
“We also have a substance-abuse program to help those women who want to get free of dependency on drugs or alcohol,” she said. “The Veterans Administration manages that program here in the Veterans Village Recovery Center.”
Another program provides therapy for women suffering with MST. That is also managed by the V.A., but it is located at the Long Beach V.A. campus, and free transportation to the V.A is provided by U.S. Vets. “The women go through a 12-week intensive treatment to address coping skills, things that trigger MST symptoms, and how to manage the symptoms,” Grigoriou said. “It’s done in a holistic way that includes art therapy, aroma therapy, and outings.” She added that the women also learn how to keep a daily narrative journal that helps them better understand their emotions.
Another program at Villages at Cabrillo helps female veterans deal with disability issues, criminal histories, and huge debts. “We do what is necessary to get them back on their feet,” Grigoriou said, explaining that U.S. Vets brings in legal teams or other professionals that can help the women climb over seemingly insurmountable obstacles. “We try to get the women connected as much as possible to the specific resources they need to overcome their problems,” Grigoriou said. “And because these women do not have funds, we provide these services to them for free.”
The fourth program– vocational training and employment assistance– was described in last week’s Signal Tribune.
When a female veteran goes to Grigoriou, she determines which programs will best suit that woman’s needs. “But if we don’t have the program or resources she needs, I will refer her to the agency or organization that can help her,” she said.
She added that the programs offered to women veterans at the Long Beach site of U.S. Vets and the Long Beach campus of the V.A. are comprehensive and very successful. “The goal is to grow these programs so that they are available throughout the United States,” she said. “Right now, these specialized programs for women veterans are only available in Long Beach.”
Grigoriou explained that the number of homeless women veterans is steadily rising across the country, and part of the mission of U.S. Vets is to advocate for more programs specifically designed for women veterans. “If we don’t have such programs up and running in other states, the concern is that the various agencies will be forced into crisis management,” she said. “We are saying that preventative care is a much more efficient way to deal with these issues.”
The Long Beach U.S. Vets center is located at 2001 River Ave. For more information, go to usvetsinc.org or call (562) 388-7800.

This article is part of a Signal Tribune series of articles detailing some of the local U.S. Veterans Initiative programs.