Hundreds of homeless veterans in San Diego have beds, hot meals and medical care this weekend. KPBS Radio's Andrew Phelps has more on an annual event that aims to get homeless vets back on their feet.
A baseball field in downtown San Diego looks like an army camp today, with dozens of camouflage tents that will house about 800 former servicemembers for the weekend. It's called Stand Down, a homegrown event that has spread to 200 places nationwide.
Al Trevino served in the Navy for 13 years. Now he says he lives with his wife in the Otay River spillway. Trevino is applying for housing with the Veterans Village of San Diego.
Trevino: "We don't have drug or alcohol problems. We're just - damn, we're just poor, and we cannot help - we cannot make it in San Diego. You know I'm working on my Social Security, disability, and my military pension and disability, and it's all just stagnant, you know."
Trevino will get free eyeglasses and a hearing check-up. Other vets will have access to drug and alcohol recovery programs.
For K-P-B-S, I'm Andrew Phelps.
