A stand down for homeless veterans offers hope to those who need it most.

With just a week to go, Tom Griffin had a few gaps to fill in the logistics as coordinator for the 2022 Monterey County Homeless Veterans Stand Down taking place June 17-18. He and his team had already marshaled a small army of volunteers to take care of nearly every possible need of homeless and near-homeless veterans, their families and pets, over two days at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in Monterey. “We’re still looking for a women’s hair stylist for a beauty shop,” Griffin says. A few more doctors and nurses for the medical area wouldn’t hurt.

Logistics are Griffin’s forte, now working on his sixth stand down, an event he helped found in 2012 along with the nonprofit Veterans Transition Center, which runs the event, and the Monterey County Military and Veterans Affairs Office, which hosts it. (The county of Monterey provides $100,000 toward the cost; this year’s budget is $160,000.) In military parlance, a stand down is a time for battle-weary soldiers to converge in a safe place to get cleaned up, sleep, eat hot meals and get medical help. In 1988 the term took on a new meaning when the first homeless veterans stand down was created in San Diego.

Monterey County’s two-day stand down takes place every other year (the 2020 event was canceled) and is considered one of the largest in the country because of the breadth of the services provided, says VTC Executive Director Kurt Schake. This year 40 nonprofits and government agencies will offer an array of services. There is free clothing, medical and dental services, veterinarians, resume help, haircuts, showers and more.

“It’s a full venue, trying to take care of these people, because when they’re out [on the streets] it’s scary and dangerous,” Griffin says. The Army Infantry veteran made it his mission to care for fellow veterans in trouble after seeing so many on the streets. He was a founding board member of the VTC in 1998 and currently serves as board president. “It’s been a lot of work but it’s been a real joy to see [veterans] get something they thought they were owed anyway,” Griffin says. “Damn right we have to take care of these people!”

This year’s stand down includes a new feature: Eight judges from several counties in the region will hear misdemeanor cases to clear veterans’ records. Around 20 attorneys from various specialties have volunteered to offer legal services.

Veterans will not be able to sleep over this year as they had in the past due to Covid safety concerns. (Monterey-Salinas Transit is providing buses from Palo Alto to San Luis Obispo to bring in veterans each day.)

“We have the capacity to take care of any veteran who shows up,” Schake says.

THE 2022 MONTEREY COUNTY VETERANS STAND DOWN takes place from 8am-6pm Friday, June 17 and Saturday, June 18, at the Monterey County Fairgrounds, 2004 Fairground Road, Monterey. 831-881-VETS, vtcmonterey.org.