November 14, 2011

PLATOON BOOSTS LAWYERS HELPING HOMELESS VETS

By Melissa Bailey, New Haven Independent

U.S. Army veteran Caroline Contreras was living in a homeless shelter, struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, when another problem threatened to push her over the edge: Identity theft.

The Connecticut Veteran’s Legal Center helped her out of a bind, Contreras testified before a packed ground of lawyers at a gathering Thursday night at the John Slade Ely House on Trumbull Street.

Contreras was one of the first clients of the Connecticut Veteran’s Legal Center when it opened two years ago at the Errera Community Care Center at the Veterans Administration hospital in West Haven. She told her story at a second annual fundraiser for CVLC on Veterans Day.

New Haven state Rep. Pat Dillon chatted with Yale Law students Allysa King and Kathryn Cahoy, who are taking part in a veterans’ legal services clinic at the law school. A bodyguard for the governor watched over the crowd.

Contreras, who’s 52, said she was living in a shelter in Milford two years ago when she came across CVLC. Her social security card was being used by another person to work in different states. She said the problem prevented her from getting an apartment or a job. At the time, she was suffering from depression, anxiety and PTSD related to a sexual assault when she served in the Army, stateside, some 30 years ago.

Within 15 minutes of when she walked in the door at CVLC, lawyers got a police officer to take down a report, she said. CVLC launched an effort to help her prove her identity—and got the job done. Two years later, she said, she is now working as a drug addiction counselor in Bridgeport—and volunteering at the homeless shelter where she used to live. Oh—and she’s getting her bachelor’s degree in Springfield, Mass.

The wine-tasting raised $115,000 so the organization can help more vets in need.

Caseus waiters circulated with plates of sweet potato and sage quiche with Kunik cheese, a blend of cow’s and goat’s milk.