It took one major life event for Coast Guard Veteran Teresa Bowser to lose everything she had built and become homeless, practically overnight.
In a happy twist of fate, it also took just one event to turn Bowser’s life back around.
While sleeping in her vehicle, Bowser was approached by a police officer who started up a conversation, realized she was a Veteran, and suggested she connect with VA’s homeless programs.
Bowser has now been housed through the Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program for the last five years.
“I love it. I’m not going anywhere. It’s just a lovely place to live,” she shared.
Taking to the skies
Bowser joined the Coast Guard because she wanted to fly. After college, she became an emergency medical technician and then a paramedic, but she yearned to be on a Life Flight crew.
Since crews were heavily male dominated in the mid-1970s, Bowser went to nursing school to help her break into the field. It didn’t give her the leg up that she needed, so in 1983 she joined the Coast Guard and was stationed with a flight rescue crew on the West Coast.
Flight rescue was as thrilling and exciting as she thought it would be and she called it the best job she ever had. When Bowser fell in love with a man who ran his own business and couldn’t move around as the Coast Guard required she made the difficult decision to leave in 1988.
After the Coast Guard, Bowser joined her husband’s general contracting business and later started her own in-home nursing business.
When her husband was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Bowser quit her job to take care of him. By the time he passed away three years later, they had run through their savings, which is how Bowser ended up sleeping in her truck.
Getting back up again
After the officer helped Bowser connect with the VA Northern California Healthcare System, she applied for the HUD-VASH program. She was approved to move into project-based housing where services and case management are brought directly to Veterans so they can age comfortably in place.
It’s an active community and Bowser enjoys living with others her age. She gets assistance with the little things that can make life harder as you age, such as transportation. Though she can’t garden anymore, admiring the community garden right outside her door brings her peace.
“It seems like I’m always busy. I’m just laid back and trying to enjoy the rest of my life. My goal is to stay as healthy and comfortable physically as I can and look for the joy,” she said.
Learn about VA programs
- If you are a Veteran who is homeless or at risk for homelessness or need to connect with a Veterans justice outreach specialist, call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-4AID-VET (877-424-3838).
- Visit the VA Homeless Programs website to learn about housing initiatives and other programs for Veterans exiting homelessness.
- Check out the Ending Veteran Homelessness podcast to learn more about what VA is doing about Veteran homelessness.
- Learn how to get involved with housing homeless Veterans.
- Subscribe to the Homeless Programs Office newsletter to receive monthly updates about programs and supportive services for Veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
Topics in this story
Link Disclaimer
This page includes links to other websites outside our control and jurisdiction. VA is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of non-VA Web sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policy or terms and conditions of those sites to fully understand what information is collected and how it is used.
More Stories
A group of cancer survivors gathered at the Houston VA to share stories and support each other
For women Veterans, harassment in a health care setting can bring up earlier military sexual trauma. This is not acceptable.
Army Veteran Luis Delgado weighed 497 pounds and had to use a walker and cane for mobility. Today, thanks to VA Whole Health, Delgado has lost 110 pounds and taken charge of his life and health.
Reading about this female veteran’s homelessness after all her accomplishes in life bring to light how your quality of life can flip on a dime. I’m grateful she was able to find supportive housing through one of the VA’s programs. That’s just how the VA should be supporting its veterans. Kudos to the police officer who knew how to advise and encourage her to seek help.
god bless you. from a airforce vietnam vet?
While your story sounds good hud vash isn’t that simple,you have to have a income, and you can only rent as a single a place that cost no more then 700.00 month,the housing authority sets the rent amount along with the VA and there’s no place to rent anywhere in the USA for that amount, and many landlords will not rent to veterans.