ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
Robert Michael Linnane talks about his experiences as a homeless veteran.
By GABE MARTINEZ
LYNN — After seeing combat in Iraq before being discharged from the U.S. Army, David Sequeira returned home to fight more battles.
Faced with a divorce from his ex-wife and crippled by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the 39-year-old homeless veteran was forced to live on the couch of a friend’s house in Lynn.
“I started collecting unemployment and a little bit of money started coming in,” Sequeira said. “I looked online for any type of veterans program that would be suitable to help me at the time.”
Sequeira was one of 157 veterans who found homes with help from a Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development (LHAND) program to assist low-income veterans get back on their feet. The initiative assists homeless and those at-risk of being without a home.
Robert Michael Linnane, a former U.S. Marine Corps veteran, lived in a Washington Street apartment where he felt unsafe due to the drugs and violence that surrounded the building.
“I got out, and I was living in this place on Washington Street, it was 10 a.m., I looked down on the ground and eight feet away from me there was two needles sitting there,” Linnane said. Linnane, who struggled with stress, PTSD and alcoholism, said seeing those needles bothered him enough to move and seek the city’s help.
LHAND helped Linnane find a one-bedroom apartment in Peabody for $950 a month. The agency gave him a $3,000 grant to pay for the first and last month’s rent and security deposit. The 59-year-old Vietnam War veteran, who collects a disability check, said he enjoys his quiet neighborhood and the new friends he’s made in town.
Both vets thanked LHAND for its work in helping them find permanent homes. Linnane praised his Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) case manager Yaritza DeJesus for her work in helping him find a new home in Peabody.
“Yari, she’s my savior,” he said.
Case managers like DeJesus and Kathleen Collins are veterans’ first contact with the organization.
When first contacted, they determine if the veteran is homeless, confirm their veteran status, and the weeks-long process for rent assistance gets rolling.
“There are challenges, but that’s part of it,” Collins said. “I’m glad we have a lot of resources in Lynn.”
Collins is the case manager for Sequeira, a native of the Republic of Cape Verde. Sequeira came to Lynn when he was 23, and was a mechanic in the Army for nine years.
Sequeira said he happened to find the SSVF and spoke to Harry MacCabe, who is the regional housing and services director for LHAND.
“He was very welcoming and he wanted to help, and he set me up with a (case) manager,” Sequeira said.
Sequeira now lives in Lynn with his mother, who came to live with him from Cape Verde.
Gabe Martinez can be reached at [email protected] follow him on Twitter @gemartinez92.
