Valley Stream Chamber of Commerce heads toiletry drive for homeless veterans

For military service members, transitioning back to civilian life can be hard. Finding stable housing can make that return even harder. Despite a steep national decline in veteran homelessness between 2010 and 2022, veterans are still at a comparatively greater risk than non-veterans of turning up on the streets or staying in shelters, experts note.

Those same homeless veterans tend to live in the shadow of poverty, according to local veteran advocates, where securing basic items like unused toiletries is a constant challenge.

“They served our country and they don’t have soap,” said Valley Stream Chamber of Commerce member Lauri LoQuerico. “How freaking sad.”

LoQuerico mobilized the Valley Stream Chamber of Commerce — working in concert with multiple village and veteran organizations — to host a roughly month-long toiletry drive, which started on April 8.

Though word of the drive has been circulating for days now, during which time Wheeler families, alongside others in participating schools have been in the thick of collecting items, last Friday served as the formal kickoff event.

On a brisk sunny afternoon, a crowd of Wheeler Elementary School students with their building principal, Ruth Peets-Butcher in tow, converged on the front steps of the school. Together, they presented their collection to leaders from the Valley Stream Chamber of Commerce and Disabled American Veterans.

Packaged toothbrushes, deodorant, lotion, shampoo, and other toiletry goods spread across a table. After streams of congratulations were conveyed to students for a job well done, the DAV officials bagged the toiletries in brown shopping bags and drove them off. The community’s efforts, assured DAV Department of New York Vice Commander John Scalesi Jr., will not go to waste.

How will donations help local veterans? 

Most of those items will be given out during the Nassau County Veterans Association’s annual “Veterans Stand Down,” explained Scalesi Jr., a drive-thru event for veterans at the Freeport Armory on May 21.

“We serve over 600 veterans at the Stand Down,” said Scalesi Jr. “It’s not just toiletries. We give out shoes, boots, pants, jackets. All new.”

Scalesi Jr. said items not given at the Stand Down will be delivered to the Nassau County Veterans Food Pantry in East Meadow’s Nassau University Medical Center.

The problem of returning home but homeless 

The state’s veteran homeless population dropped from 5,857 in 2010 to 990 ten years later—a record decline fueled in large part by federal housing subsidies.

Despite considerable inroads, however, as larger market forces like affordable housing deficits and an increased cost of living magnify, struggling veterans are more likely to rely on charities and programs for support, advocates argue.

“A lot of veterans are falling in the cracks. A lot of them cannot afford food, so they visit the veteran service agency in Nassau County,” said DAV Post 145 Commander James Brown. “We work with the agency, and that’s where most veterans show up and where we find out about their problems.”

Brown says he sees handfuls of new veterans in need at the agency daily. His chapter is well-known for its “aggressive” fundraising campaigns and one-on-one support for veterans in need. The problems Brown and his team take upon themselves to solve vary considerably from paying for car loans to helping file VA benefit claims. Still, many veterans don’t know how or where to make contact with aid agencies, reminded Brown.

With more soldiers returning from deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq bringing home both the visible and invisible scars of war, contends Scalesi, getting back into housing is just one of a litany of struggles. Demand for basic toiletries is another and drives like these lend an enormous help.

And, according to LoQuerico, students across the village are taking the lead.

“This started with Valley Stream Central and Memorial Junior High School and each of their Youth Leadership Club is promoting it and they’re having contests to see who could raise the most,” said LoQuerico. “Wheeler Avenue, William L. Buck, the Valley Stream Christian Academy, and Holy Name of Mary are also taking part in this.”

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