The Sunday preceding Veteran’s Day, Glide Memorial Church held a special Celebration for veterans, and many local leaders turned out to honor them. “No one who defended our country should ever have to fight for a roof over their head! Caring for veterans is the responsibility of everyone,” Mayor Daniel Lurie proclaimed from the pulpit. Veteran homelessness in San Francisco has been decreasing recently– but there were still 587 homeless veterans in San Francisco as of the latest count.

 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood spoke about addressing the root causes of veteran homelessness. “San Francisco values mean that we provide jobs and economic development for those who have served us the most. On this Veterans Day, I can’t think of a better organization than GLIDE to represent our San Francisco values,” he said.

Then, the supervisor presented an award to a veteran who had worked in journalism to fight for better prison conditions. Tragically, veterans are twice as likely as non-veterans to be incarcerated. Not enough people realize that when we fight for the fair treatment of prisoners, we are also fighting for the rights of veterans.

Dr. Gina Fromer, GLIDE President and CEO acknowledged GLIDE’s daily commitment to supporting veterans. “Honoring veterans is not just something we do once a year. We see hundreds of veterans every day walk in through our doors,” she said. “They come through our doors for meals, for support. They get love, dignity, and respect.” She also opened up about her family’s experiences navigating the mental health of her veteran father.

Del Seymour, GLIDE board member and leader of Code Tenderloin, was one of our featured veteran speakers. He reflected on the lack of support for veterans after they leave the army. “We spend three months making civilians into soldiers: it’s called basic training. We don’t spend ONE MINUTE making our soldiers into citizens. That’s where we get it wrong. I remember, one day, someone asked me, ‘are you getting your veteran’s benefits?’ I said, ‘what benefits?’ I had no idea I was entitled to the veteran’s benefits that thankfully I receive now.”

Del Seymour’s jacket, bearing the insignia of the 82nd airborne division of the United States Army.

Thank you to everyone in our community who is a veteran and shows leadership in veteran’s issues. We appreciate you and you deserve all our support!