The number of homeless female veterans continues to grow and with the lack of supportive services to assist them with marketable job skills, transportation or child care, post-traumatic stress disorder or other psychological challenges, and physical disabilities, over the last nearly two decades Veterans Inc. has become the leading provider of supportive services for female to help them better their lives and get back on their feet. 

 Veterans Inc. was the first in the nation to provide in-house services to homeless female veterans and is the first provider in Massachusetts to open a residential program for women veterans and their dependent children. To complement the women and children’s program, and in conjunction with a licensed provider, Veterans Inc. opened Little Patriots Early Learning Center in the same building, providing parenting support and childcare.  The pilot program, combining housing, outreach, employment & training, and child services, is the first of its kind.

In the words of Gidelina Pineda, a current Veterans Inc. resident, “Veterans Inc. has made it capable for me to get back on my feet and start moving forward with my life again. When you have a child and are homeless, you still want to stay upbeat so they feel like everything is okay.  Right now this place [Veterans Inc.] has become a safe and nurturing home environment for us. Without the support I have received so far I would still be moving around from place to place.”

 Gidelina joined the military in 2002 so she could “give back” to her new country (she was born in the Dominican Republic).  She deployed to Iraq for a year in 2004, an experience which was at times difficult and stressful, but one she would not trade for anything. 

 Although Gidelina Pineda always saw herself as a lifelong member of the military, joining the Army at 18, she left with an honorable discharge after six years once she became pregnant. Gidelina struggled after her daughter Layla was born.  She didn’t have a lot of transferrable skills and without a skillset that would provide employment with adequate pay for a single mother, she eventually became homeless. 

 “Without a support structure, where do you keep a kid when you need to work and can’t afford childcare?” 

 She bounced around to different situations, crashing with friends, sleeping with her infant daughter on an air mattress at her mother’s one-bedroom apartment, staying with the father of her daughter though they were no longer a couple, staying for months at a time until the welcome was worn out or until something seemingly better came along.  To her daughter, she would never show her unhappiness or her fear.  Often, she would pretend they were “camping” or going on a series of “adventures.”  For certain, Ms. Pineda would never give up and would always make sure her daughter’s life was surrounded with love and happiness.

 “It was stressful, sometimes overwhelming, but you take it, and you deal with it, and you smile, because she’s worth it and I am not going to take away from something so wonderful and precious as childhood is.  And no matter how bad things get, there are people worse off than us.”

 Realizing that her daughter needed a more stable environment, Gidelina sought assistance and was accepted into the Veterans Inc. Housing Program for Women & Children.  There are ten women in this program, some single and some with dependents.

Gidelina is very grateful for the supportive environment she has found at Veterans Inc., for the peer support from other women veterans all with their own stories of hardship, and the camaraderie they share.  She is also pleased that Layla, now 3 ½, actually has her own bedroom (complete with the princess canopy over her bed).

 “This is home to us.”

 Subsequently, Layla brings an air of happiness to all who are there!  Furthermore, Layla is now enrolled in the Little Patriots Early Learning Center – childcare which is very conveniently located in the same building! 

Veterans Inc. has been able to expand its successful Employment & Training Program to provide for the special needs of Women Veterans and Veterans with Families and to offer job training and placement services to members of the National Guard and Reserves and their spouses, and veterans at-risk and their spouses through the special grant made possible from the Microsoft Corporation.

 With help from the Microsoft Elevate America Veterans Initiative, Gidelina has received Microsoft Certification (classes right onsite), job skills training, coaching, and career counseling and guidance.  She is currently working as an Assistant Manager at a gas station, a position she is happy to have, but not the most ideal.  She will soon be ready to pursue other employment opportunities with the assistance of her Veterans Inc. employment counselor.  She is currently pursuing higher education in developmental psychology and early childhood education.  As a side note, she also rejoined the military as a member of the National Guard.  She is an E4 Specialist. 

She believes her future and Layla’s future is bright.

Her motto? “Smile through the tears and always stay positive.”