Veteran homelessness is and has been quite a problem across many American cities. The exact causes range as far and wide as the causes for substance about and suicide and are difficult to address. One this is for sure, housing is a basic human need and life on the streets is rough. Air Force veteran Kijana Prowant has seen enough veteran homelessness in her back yard. Nicknamed Military City USA, San Antonio Texas, has a veteran homeless problem similar likely worse than other major cities its size. She is sick and tired of our brothers and sisters not have their basic human needs met so she jumped into action. With some absolutely massive plans in motion, Kijana and her volunteers are on the verge of creating safe, sustainable housing options for those in need. She has already helped 70+ veterans get off the street in various ways and provided vital basic toiletries, clothing, beds and more to ensure they are safe, warm and working toward putting homelessness behind them.

Battle Buddy Podcast Guest Links:

www.projectsteal.com

Battle Buddy Podcast Links:

https://linktr.ee/battlebuddypodcast

Transcript from Episode 44 with Kijana Prowant:

Kijana Prowant 0:04

with my camera, keep your muted.

Keith McKeever 0:10

Thank you, of course. Of course I was muted. What a great way to start a show everybody. Anyway, um, I've got Kiana Crowley here she is with Project steel. She is tackling the homelessness problem in San Antonio. And who knows beyond that, what other cities she might be able to reach out and touch in the future. We're gonna talk about the homelessness issue. And so without further ado, Kiana, welcome to the show.

Kijana Prowant 0:36

Thank you, Keith. Thanks for having us here.

Keith McKeever 0:38

And thanks for calling me out on having myself muted. So I'll go you know what, hey, if we can't laugh at ourselves, who will laugh about you know, so tell us a little bit about your military journey? What, what got you to sign on the dotted line? Where just serve what you do?

Kijana Prowant 0:56

So if you don't mind my guest, right here? What's gonna happen? Yeah, say hello. So when I was in high school, we wanted to I want to list with one of my good friends into the Navy. And actually what motivated me not only having a military family, but I saw Top Gun and Pearl Harbor. And so I started having kind of like, a knack for military history. And I looked into it more. And during one of the crew days, we had a Navy SEAL come out, and we saw his videos. And we were doing some of the challenges. And I was one of the top students that can actually hang. So he motivated me to go ahead and figure out about enlisting and my stepfather. He served in the Marine Corps from 73 to 85. And so he motivated me a lot to do it. And I was always around my boyfriend at the time on Camp Pendleton. So I got to see a lot of the, the military environment, which I fell in love with, not just because of the uniform, but because of who my family was like I was born on port white nimi. You know, that's a Navy base, for those that don't know. But I feel like I've always had this sense of service instilled in me because I grew up in foster care. So I didn't grow up, where you would say it was conventional. But you would always catch me like in the Marine Corps office. And then my dad was like, Hey, you're smart. You should go. Air Force or army, you scored pretty high. So thank you, honey. Thank you. So that's when I couldn't enlist because I had my son at the time. And then I got married. We got stationed at Fort Campbell. I started working with the wives a lot, because my husband at the time was infantry. So we don't want to FRG things, there was a lot of deployments. And then one thing we noticed was homelessness and suicide. So they had like a Month celebration, because it had been no suicides for the entire month of March in 2014. And so I said, Hey, this is a problem. Why? Why is this such a big problem, but nobody could figure out why. So I started donating to organizations and then my husband at the time and I read, see someone homeless, they have a set that they'd have a sign that said, homeless vet. So with the homeless vet sign, we pick them up, we take them to a hotel for a couple of weeks. And I would always cook food. And whenever I made dinner, either they came over, or we go over there. So that was one of the things that I always did. And that was from age 18. So once I enlisted in the Air Force in 2015, I got out 2019. But I would always be on my way to work. And I was stationed at Lackland. And I would always see them by the base military drive. All that homeless veteran need help. And so I'd pick them up being late to work and you know, drop them off at hotel or taking a Walgreens, give them some stuff. And I was like, What Why are you homeless like you serve? They just told us in basic training, we had all these benefits when we got out. So I'm not understanding like, you know, and it was very insensitive at the time. And I said, you know, what did you do? And he's like one vet, he was about 60 years old. He said, Sweetheart, when you get out, you will know. But I just always ask that you not give up on us. And so we got him to the hotel, got him his gift cards, got him stuff. And then I would just kind of volunteer here are there CFC campaigns combined federal campaigns to the military to donate to homeless organizations. But then I was as I was getting out, I experienced taps and I was like, Okay, this is short time for a lot of information. And then luckily, I was married, but it took me nine months to get my first VA appointment. And you know, as I was trying to get my benefits, I had moments of where I did not want to live. And I was struggling because I got hazed. I got hazed when I was into the white, like one of my old supervisors, like hey, your eyelashes are out of rags and had my supervisor cut him right there at my desk in front of customers, you know, and I was taking a bus, you know to work And they were like, Hey, you may have got her at 715. But your hair's not done. So you're late, and I got paperwork for it. So when one of the people in the office didn't like me, nobody liked me. And it kind of just made things living hell, like I save so much money for a lot of people. And even the chiefs and BMT was a big, it was a big thing that chiefs got money taken away. And I did that, and I didn't get one Meritorious Service Medal. Nobody thanked me when I had going away, only about four or five people showed up. So it was one of those devastating things where I felt like you know, you do so much and I had to add new jobs. And not a lot of people like admin, because sometimes the wrong admin ends up costing them a lot of money. And I just happened to be the one that saved that money. And so I was like, Man, I did something for nothing. And no matter how many chiefs, our commanders would send emails to my chain of command, like he did a great job. They would never come to tell me, I would find out days later, when they come and call on me like, hey, yeah, we gave us your chain of command, but they didn't give us you know, oh, well, what's going on, and they tried to get me to new units. And so that broke me down as an airman. And apparently, that was a trend at that unit. And then once I got carbon monoxide poisoning, I wasn't useful anymore. And so they're like, Hey, you should get out. And I was like, Okay, I'll get out. But I'll come back, and I'll come back stronger, because I'm going to keep serving, you guys aren't gonna put me out until I until I take my last breath. Somehow, someway. I'm gonna start military. And when I got out, I know, I had a lot of issues. And it took me nine months to get my first mental health VA appointment. I was calling the VA like, Hey, can you guys get me in any sooner I'm breaking down. I can't do this. I'm having so much difficulties. And so then it hit me what that gentleman said, like when I get out, I understand too. So then I was then hit me. And I started talking to other veterans. And I started getting in the groups like, hey, how long did it take you for your first VA appointment? And a lot of them even just for physical appointment, it took them months, and some a couple, even a couple years. So then I started understanding, okay, that's how the narcotics comes in. Because, you know, when I got injured, they are straight to give me Xanax, some sort of opiate, because they wanted me to get back to work. And when you when you kick out someone or when someone separates, but they've been dependent on that, and they can't access that resource anymore, then of course, they're going to fall through the cracks. And then I started looking at divorce rates, I started paying attention to all the people I processed and what they went through, through different eyes. And so I said, You know what? I told my husband, I was like, Hey, I think we should do something. And he said, Okay, how about we buy some land and build little houses for veterans to stay on that are struggling? And I said, Okay, let's do that. And then of course, we had our we had our separation. And then once we got the stimulus checks, I remember I took I because I got a lot of kids about a pretty big stimulus check. And I took half of it. And I took two vets that I always brought food to, and I said, Hey, I want to help you apply for an apartment. And I want to pay your first month's rent in your deposit. So we went ahead, and I took them, and I helped them get some furniture for free from different spouses. And he was like, You know what you should do this professionally, because we need more people like you. And then that's when I started looking at how I can start my own, you know, company to help out homeless veterans, excuse you. Sorry about that, how we can help out homeless veterans, and then the National Coalition for homelessness, they have a guide on how to help homeless veterans. And so I said, you know, I'm going to take this money, I'm not going to waste it. You know, I'm not one to eat crab legs, or lobster or try to go on any trips. I don't need any of that stuff. So I went and I incorporated. And I said, Okay, let me go ahead and take this a step further. Because if I can do as much as I did, having four kids by myself, then what can other people do? Once they, you know, find because everybody's aware that there's veteran homelessness, but not a lot of people pay attention to the root cause and how to solve it. They feel like just dropping a couple dollars here and there is going to do something. How about getting to the root of the issue? So that's when I started challenging like, hey,

Kijana Prowant 9:10

when when you want to talk about homeless because I've had a conversation with a guy, he said, Well, are these homeless veterans, they're they're, they're alcoholics, and they're drug addicts. And I said, Well, did you even look at the cause, Deena hub, you know, medical military works, when members are injured, how much they just want to placate us to silence us and then you get these people and they can't work anymore and you kick them out. And they're so dependent that they have to find some other vise to take away the pain. It's a setup but a lot of people don't think of that the financial the false sense of security financially for each military member that goes in especially the young ones. Oh, I got a child or you know, I'm a soldier big shot now, you know, don't all these dollars now. No, I'm like, Hey, eventually, you got to move out of the barracks where your credit sat down because you got a car you got to try to drill but it's 34% interest and now you set your self up financially for and a lot of these jobs. Don't train translate on the civilian side because my husband who is security forces, when we moved to Texas, I only myself helped him with his resume. And we helped him apply for I think, 102 jobs. And he only got called back for three. And we struggled for months because I didn't have any VA benefits at the time, we just relied on his, you know, his credit card and his benefits. And so when I had to live that struggle, sorry. When I had to live that struggle along with my husband

Keith McKeever 10:35

it's all good. Actually, it's it's probably the most adorable guest I've had on so far. You can't you just never know when kids are gonna come in and cry and need something. So but that's a lot to a lot to unpack there with toxic leadership and yeah, all the root causes for homelessness and and all those things are so much there.

Kijana Prowant 11:07

But yeah, no, definitely your toxic leadership. Because as I had to do before I even are incorporated. But before I even started asking for donations and reaching out, I talked to a lot of people like, hey, when you got to that point of not wanting to live, what was the issue? I know it's personal, but but educate me so I can help others like you. And they'd be like, yeah, they're my toxic leadership, we get put like there, for instance, there was a guy I helped. And I told the story yesterday that he had financial issues. And in the Air Force, if you have financial issues, or you don't pay any bills, you get paperwork for it. And then if you get too much paperwork, they start putting you towards separation, he was having a lot of marital problems due to his financial issues. And at my job at the time, I was in employment classification. So I dealt with, you know, fixing the job. So if you try to commit suicide, or you get arrested, or you're on the process of separation, we change your FSC, which is the equivalent to Army record MLS. And I looked at it and his wife came in, and she's all like, they're taking them, they're kicking him out. It's not right. I've been telling them, I just don't know who to talk to. So she sat with me. And we went through his stuff with his, you know, permission. And I called his I caught a CSS was under Support squadron. And luckily, the person in his unit I was really close to because I taught her everything she knew. And she's like, Yeah, and I don't know what's going on. But he has been able to pay any of his bills. And we just figured he was you know, fucking offers money. And so I went to finance to say, hey, tell me what's going on? Why is why does he have this code? And they said, Oh, he has a debt of over $100,000. And I'm like,

Kijana Prowant 12:53

he's an e4. Why does he have to have $100,000? Like, like, what happened? Did he get a you know, selective retention bonus. And because it's in trouble, he has paid back, he's like, No, and it turned, it turned out that he only owed $1,000. But the new person accidentally added a couple extra zeros. So it was completely their mistake. And I expedited a CMS case to air the Air Force Service Center. And we actually got it solved. And he got that money back. And I got in my car with my friend who was CSS that goes out. And let's go talk to your commander because I know you're not going to tell them what needs to be told. And I said, Colonel, I hate to tell you this, but you guys messed up and you guys put this man in a position that he shouldn't be in. So I think that's all my apology. He's like, Well, I know you do good work. But who are you to come in like just your fries. I know you're here. I said, you don't need to know I'm here. But what I need to know what I need you to know is that this man who tried to take his life, his wife asked for my help, because you guys didn't dig. And I showed him all paperwork from finance and how somebody messed up and how we fixed it. And luckily, we were able to get him back as AFC. But at that time, he lost his trust with the Air Force. And he was like, You know what, I want to cancel my reenlistment. I don't want to stay in because I tried to tell them like this was going on. And that was the first time I actually, because when you thought success stories, you know, I was thinking about the time that I that was my most successful story that kind of stays with me. And a lot will say yeah, let's raise suicide awareness. They'll have the briefings and the meetings and they'll say the possibilities, but these supervisors don't necessarily care. You know, we had we had a whole briefing for E form below by all the tech sergeants ie the e6 is called back to basics where they told us Hey, you guys keep getting paperwork, and it's making us look bad. We earned our stripes. We deployed it, we want to move on and y'all are stopping us. We'll cut it out. And I was about to say something in my mouth got covered. And one of my friends on Facebook, we talked about all the time where he was like could have gotten Latrobe I said Yeah, but they weren't doing their jobs. So it gave me a lot of that information I needed. And it helped me ask the right questions. And that's when I came up with projects deal. Because as an army wife, one of the missions my, my first husband went on was a strategically take and extract to an alternate location. I know other branches, call it something else. And I said, hey, when it comes to solving the homelessness crisis, it's not just about other organizations, I commend them for even getting to where they can do something. But it's not just about paying that first month's rent. It's not just about giving that deposit or putting them in a shelter. Like, you guys know how to be a US. Why don't we why aren't we doing something to where they can focus on their mental health first, because you're putting them in these jobs you're getting in these apartments. But if they cannot maintain that employment, because they can't take care of themselves, or they're being neglected by the services that they were supposed to be given, then it's just a continued cycle, and you guys are taking money and just throwing it away, it's not actually doing anything, I think of money as an investment when you put it somewhere. So I want to invest in each veteran, and I said, you know, let's, let's get this ranch, let's style it, like on base housing, let's have community center, you know, where they stay in temporarily, they can build their home, or they can stay there for a couple of years, because some each case is individual, let's fix their credit. Let's let them do holistic healing on the you know, horses, dogs, gardening, different modes of healing, let's do it all here, let's not force them to go out, let's brush up their skills, let's brush up their resume. And then once they've established their credit, and they've gotten everything together, then start pushing them into the workforce a little bit, you know, push baby bird off the tree, let them fly a little bit. And if they struggle, we pick them back up. That's the only way we're gonna stop, we're gonna stop this cycle. Some of them, you know, they owe a lot of child support. So they lost their licenses, and they can't get jobs or they go to jail for panhandling. And when they come out, they try to get a job with because they're a criminal, and that's all vaccine, they can't get that job. So boom, they're right down the street. So so once I once I did that, I formulated a plan. And I mean, like, I have notebooks filled with step by steps. If you're a veteran, and you come into the project, steel, you know, village, what would happen in based on my research, and what a lot of veterans who are homeless requested out of the 71, I have helped. I felt like it was a solid plan. So I started moving

Keith McKeever 17:16

forward on it. As awesome, there's a lot of impact that can be made, and have a few different thoughts there. Because you kind of hinted on it, it's just basic needs, right? Nobody can grow until their basic needs are met food, water shelter, you know that just those general safety things, putting them in a good environment, you can't grow without it. Okay, can't grow flowers in your garden, unless you put the seeds in the soil first, like, you know, and they got to sprout and get their roots. So there's a lot to that. And I've kind of noticed the same thing. Which is what kind of started this podcast is realizing that people were reaching out for help on social media, and that they were struggling at different aspects, financial, personal, close relationships, lack of connection to the community. employment issues. You know, it's not just, you know, good jobs, just, you know, jobs that pay the bills and our jobs people want to go to, you know, really good employment. I didn't know of course, physical and mental health and they all kind of play a factor and homelessness, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and suicide. Are that's that's rock bottom, somewhere in there. You know, suicide, obviously, being the absolute worst, isn't rock bottom for people. And a lot of people who are homeless have mental health issues, they have physical health issues, they have financial issues, like every single one of them, I'm sure of the 71 You've helped have had serious problems in one of those one of those categories, I'm sure. One or more. So what would you say out of all those 71 people that you've helped, what would you say are the two or three biggest things that are affecting homelessness in your in your backyard there in San Antonio?

Kijana Prowant 19:12

So I would say definitely, their mental health lack of services, meaning we know that the VA is here, there's several VA facilities but especially with the pandemic a lot of them shut down. That kind of was the the proverbial foot that kicked the bucket and emptied it. And then it's in that I would say, empathetic employers because right now it's like everybody's building back up now that the pandemic is over, you know, so it's like if I cuz I, I've helped with employment, I've helped with them, taking them stronger so that they'll get jobs but they don't understand that, hey, I need to go to this appointment. I'm finally getting into the VA. You know what I know for when I helped Veronica, she kept needing to, I needed to take her to the hospital, I needed to take her to see a lawyer, she had so many things going on and her boss like, Hey, you got one more time before you're gone, I understand you got a lot going on. But you need to be here to work. And then she was like, I don't know what to do. Because I need to get a house and I need to get these resources, but a lot of them you have to go into. And so it kind of set me because a lot of employers that I that I've helped veterans get jobs with are kind of like that, you know, they're trying to meet their bottom line, you know, they hire you for a job, they expect you to do a job, which is that, right? That's their business that they put money into. But if you're going to pride yourself on serving veterans and being a part of the military community, and you want to be helpful, where's that help in debt? Does it end that giving them a 10% discount, or hiring them and saying that you hired them, so you can, you know, get a pat on the back for it, and then nothing else. Because obviously, if you're wanting to help veterans, you would understand what comes with it. So that that was one of the things but luckily, we found a few that are very empathetic, because themselves, they were veterans. And then also too, you have veterans that that own jobs out here, but they don't give a damn about their brothers and sisters. Because it's like, hey, they should have did what I did if they wanted to get here. And I've been I've been, you know, nose to chest. Because I'm short. I've been no suggest with a couple of guys. You know, we got heated discussions about that. And I said, you know, like, Eff, you are few? Like, how could you do this? Like your oath doesn't just end when you get out, you don't leave things behind? Because how are you preying on your usage of the VA, but then others who are struggling, you just look at them like they're beneath you. Like, I'm so glad I didn't serve with you. Because if I got deployed with you, I have that I'm sure you wouldn't have had my back. So no wonder what your unit was like. So I feel like those were the biggest issues.

Keith McKeever 21:51

Those are definitely the kind of people that were in your unit. That kind of toxic leadership looking out for themselves. And I guess I might go a little off topic here. But you know, we're both airmen. You know, it's integrity first, then service before self. And finally, excellence. And all we do. And I don't know about you. But I think from the moment that I heard those, those core values, really struck a chord with me in the way I was raised growing up, and it just made sense. And I will flat out say today, those are still three guiding principles in my life. And for those people to just be like, Screw you, like, I went to the VA, I got my help, you know, why should I help you? Like? I don't know, because we're one big family and that's your brother, sister. You know, what kind of person are you? If you're not going to help, I'm not saying you got to fork out money or you got to bend over backwards, right and, and risk your company, and your profit, whatever. But there's something that every single one of us can do. For our veteran brothers and sisters. I don't have you know, I don't have billions of dollars, right? I'm not Oprah Winfrey over here, we're not going to say everybody gets a car. But what I can do is I can have this podcast and I can bring people on like you and other guests to talk about different things to educate and inspire other people. You can be right there in the trenches and pull people out of an environment and put them in a better environment and help give them some tools. Some of it's on them to use them. But you can give them the tools to try and change things around. So yeah, I I don't have much use honestly, for those kinds of people who say not my problem. I won't apologize for it either.

Kijana Prowant 23:40

Yeah, I completely agree. And I and and when I first started product, still I would go on certain veteran pages like Hey, guys, I'm starting a nonprofit and, and I'd like to help out. So these are the questions I have on that advertise ask for money. And so one of my friends, he has fg apparel, and he would always text me and apologize, because he'd see the comments before I would. And you know, they would think I was a scammer. I get blocked from a lot of these veteran groups. And I'm like, I was just trying to fucking help. And then there was one guy, he said, I desperately needed a job. We had gotten like a $4,000 donation from from Walmart. And I was like, Okay, well, I want to help you with employment. So I called them and I was like, Hey, I'd like to help you out. This is what the job we're doing. You know, we're barely starting but you know, before I could even offer him and say like, Hey, we have money, we're legit. He blocked me. And then I tried to go back to the group and like, Hey, guys, I'm legit. I have the paperwork. We're we're registered with the state is not a scam. They blocked me from the group and they wouldn't let me back in and then a few started coming into my messages and challenging me and calling me a scammer. And, and then it was just like, so I understand. There's like, not a lot of trust. And that's what I figured out about what happened with Wounded Warrior Project. So I don't I don't really talk to anybody from there. But, you know, a lot of people were like, Oh, you're probably going to be like this and you're putting all the money for yourself. I said, I don't Permanent total, I get enough money from the VA that it is I can live comfortably with me my children I know, but money. So I don't I don't need any funds from this. It does not want to try to do but, you know, for them to like for me to be their sister in arms and ask for help say, hey, I want to help other people. A lot of them came out the woodwork with a lot of nasty things to say, instead of help. So that's why I was like in the warrior Council, I was actually terrified to ask for feedback. Because I was like, I like one of the times I've asked for feedback on on one of the other pages, I think better printer tribe. I tried. I tried asking in there and I got a lot of insults as well. And there was I took my post down and I cried because I was like, Why doesn't anybody else want to help? Like there's a there's a veterans. There's a veterans creed. And I was like, I just want to help but a lot of people are attacking me versus lb now. So that's what so when I started seeing it in person, I wasn't surprised anymore because I was like if they're doing this on the internet, I'm pretty sure they're doing it in person. But you know, I'm a little spit ball of fire. You're not going to be some six foot three man. No talking about your retired Sergeant. I'm just a little girl big dreams. You know, you damn right I am. You know, I shoot you in your shit and bring you down to my level if you really want to get like that. But I'm just trying to do what I can. Why aren't you helping? What are you doing? You got comfortable? You got comfortable. That's what that was. So that. So my temper is a little bit of a challenge. Because you know, I'm, I'm like a lone woman in this with my best friend. And you know, I went to the VFW. And I was like, hey, I want to throw on this. And I know you guys donate, can we get some help? And one of the old guys he looked me up and down and he chuckled and elbowed his friend and nodded at me. And then they started laughing and the other guys eaten and he's like, You know what? You're gonna have my lunch. But uh, we'll talk about it. We'll say you sent me if you can, if you don't, we don't see you later. And I was like, Okay. I don't argue with my older son, we'll go. We'll go ahead and go. So

Keith McKeever 27:06

while Yeah, I would imagine just about everybody kind of starting something like that it. It's got to be really frustrating. Because I know some other nonprofits that I think go through some very similar stuff where people don't really take him serious. And it's like, I don't know why, you know, I've seen firsthand what some of these people are, are doing. Not every nonprofit is operating at a point where they've got millions and millions of dollars coming in. It's all from corporate money. And they're doing things that are like so Wow. And in your face, because they have so much money to do things and so much impact. There's I think, what 4040 something 1000 Like veteran nonprofits, I don't remember what the number is, I heard it somewhere. But there's a lot. And it doesn't, it doesn't matter if you have a million dollar budget, and you're doing million dollar things, or if you have $100 budget and you're doing $100 things. What matters is the impact. If you only have $100, and it's making a heck of an impact, you could you know, that's that's maybe it's will help on one person. But I will say one thing about your personality, you described it? Well. I've known you a few times through the video chats. And in the pre show interview for this. A little ball of energy is for sure. And but you know what, that's what you need sometimes do you need to kind of get people out of their comfort zone and say, Hey, I'm here. This is what I'm doing. Listen to me. Because it's a need. Like, we there's a lot of talk about veterans suicide, rightfully so. But homelessness, and substance abuse is second third on that list of Dare I say pandemic I mean, it's, it's, it's bad. It's really, really bad.

Kijana Prowant 28:53

And dare I drive it? When it comes to? And this is what frustrated me the most I don't get frustrated anymore. Now kind of to this point where all right. But watch, okay, just watch. Just watch how you you missed out. But that's okay. I'll accept your help when the time comes. Because if I were you, I'd probably feel the same to most likely not because I have integrity first. But um, one of the things is when you look at the statistic of suicide, majority of those who commit suicide were chronically homeless. I think it was like at 67% of those who committed suicide were chronically homeless are facing homelessness again, and had lost her job after finding it. So that's when you know when I look at a lot of because there's a couple organizations I've talked to out here in San Antonio, because they tell you when you start a nonprofit partner with other nonprofits, because they may have more funds, and they can delegate those funds and help out. And so it's like they want to raise suicide awareness, which I which I understand but we're aware. We are aware. Everybody knows there's music videos, there's T shirts, there's advertisements, we know now what are we doing? And one nonprofit came me so mad Okay, with all your money and your advertising, what are you doing? I looked at your operating budget and majority of what you got going on is going towards operational expenses. Okay, what are you doing? If I wanted to commit suicide, financial issues, and I came to you, what would you do for me? Other than listening to me, you have you have millions of dollars, I saw your budget for the city of San Antonio, what could you provide for me? And then he was like, well, we can give you a listen to resources. I said, See, now that I disagree with, I'm not gonna tell you how to run your business. I'm saying project still, what we're doing is if you're in that position, and you come to me, and you're saying, Hey, I lost custody of my kid, because I've haven't had a job because I've been trying to take care of myself with the VA. Okay, Senator program, do our intake, talk to one of our intake people, let's get you enrolled, and figure out what's the root of the problem, you need legal help, okay, let's find free pro bono legal sources. If we can't do it, let's get your grant for those legal sources. Let's get your license reinstated, let's find you some gainful employment, start to somewhere because you're feeling like you're at the bottom and you can't get out. So we're actually going to take action instead of just talking about that's why a lot of people will look at me, and they're like, Oh, we don't see you on Facebook, you don't post a lot on social media. And I know it's important, but I but I've been delegated that money to actually doing things like when we work with the veterans of wrinkle court, we provide them the necessities, if they need a new bed, or if they need new shoes or something like that, we go out and we actually do that stuff. So we haven't dedicated the time for the pomp and circumstances. So you know, when I talked to a lot of these nonprofits out here, and I asked them for help, but then also saw how they operated. I'm like, man, we have disagreements. I hope one day you can help us out too. But we're doing things a little differently. Like I had one veteran, he, he kept getting arrested for panhandling, and I needed help paying his bill because I paid the first time. And he had, he wanted to get a job, we got him a job. But when they ran a background check, they fired him. Because she got the rest of the panel. That's why I brought that up. And I went out to another nonprofit. And I was like, hey, this man needs help. And I want to see what we can do for him. But we can't do much anymore. Because our funds are running low. We're still new. And I sent him that way. Three days later, he called me he was crying. And he's like, I don't know why you sent me there. They didn't do a damn thing for me. They kept boarding my phone calls. They said they couldn't help they they sent me to GI Forum and GI Forum said it would take this long and and I felt so bad that I felt so bad. So I was okay, I need to work a lot harder. And I was like, I'm so sorry. And luckily at that time, I had gotten you know, I was getting stimulus checks every $50 and I took an advance or so I could put money towards them. And I luckily, I was able to help him out. And he moved back to Nebraska to be closer to his daughter. And that was that my biggest festival and he's actually doing really well now. I don't keep I need to start keeping track of him. But he's doing he's doing really well now. Um, but it kind of felt really angering for me is that, you know, they say nonprofits help other nonprofits help other nonprofits. But I didn't get I didn't get a damn like help. But the people I people had a GI forms like, Hey, can you help us with these resources? You know how to get access to this, can you send it to me, I was like, you know, I'm not gonna hold it against you. I have the tools, I can help you look this stuff up, I will do whatever I can for you. But I just want to say next time I asked for you guys's help, please don't shut the door in my face. Give me what I'm giving to you?

Keith McKeever 33:23

Well, one way to look at it, I don't know if this helps any, is they may have not been able to help you with that person individually. But they've probably helped you in more ways than you think of showing you other ways to do things for you to be creative to find other solutions for people. So, you know, I've seen people in situations like that, you know, bad employment and stuff like that, or, you know, stuck in stuck in a job. And it's like, you know what, this is an opportunity for you to learn from, from bad leadership, what not to do. This is you know, for a business, it's ran bad. Like how to, if you're going to run when you're on Sunday, how to run on the runway, learn from their mistakes, learn from their bad attitude. And so you probably learned a lot more. If you really sat down and thought about it from some of these, you know, people not really helping.

Kijana Prowant 34:09

Oh, yeah. I got a book a knowledge man. The filing guy not even on my list.

Keith McKeever 34:19

So with the the homeless problem there in San Antonio, I didn't know if you happen to have this number or not. I looked it up somewhere. This was a few weeks ago. So I got it in my notes that 2021 There's 40 roughly 40,000 veterans nationwide had taken advantage of some sort of VA program on that. Do you have any numbers at all? Or any idea of roughly how many homeless veterans there are just for painting a picture wise in San Antonio?

Kijana Prowant 34:45

So San Antonio, last time we checked, um, unfortunately, the VA hasn't really updated those numbers accurately, especially during the pandemic. Because the last numbers we got from them they calculated from 2019 pre pandemic including suicide And I would say there was over 300 homeless veterans in the city of San Antonio, about 2100, estimated for the whole state of Texas. And majority of them are in Austin. So they only give us round about ballpark numbers on who can be homeless because especially with all of the we feel like that may have increased, because once San Antonio's eviction per victim memorandum signed by the judge ended, I have a friend who worked in the apartment complexes and she's like, Hey, we're evicting people in a matter of a few days, like we're forcing their stuff out. So I know once that safe guard was there, it was last but I do know a lot of our shoulders aren't here are overflowing. But they can't give me accurate number of blog veterans. So it's kind of like, hey, you know, I get my I get my I don't want to call them clients, I get my brothers, my sisters from others are trying to help them out that acquire them. So that's our numbers not official, yet, we've been working with the city of San Antonio, and I've been calling I've been calling the mayor's office, like, hey, we need an accurate number you put inside military City, USA, and you're trying to bring in more people. But I need an accurate number. For the those few that fell through the cracks. And so I'm still waiting on it. I call them three times a week. So I'm still waiting. Hopefully, we get accurate count soon. But it's kind of hard to keep track with everything that's going on. So many people are moving in. And the woman told me she's like so many people are moving in, we can't keep track of what's going on. But I've tried my best to see what shelters and what the VA says. And I try to talk to the VA, but you know, trying to talk to them. It's kind of running in circles. So

Keith McKeever 36:44

there's no doubt about that, you're never going to get a straight answer out of it. I was just kind of curious just to paint a picture, because I would imagine that those numbers are a lot higher. I know the eviction moratorium was in place for almost two years. And whether that's people being kicked out of apartments, or people being foreclosed on in their homes, it's it's happening. I've been in real estate for nine years and talking to another agent the other day, and our market just in foreclosure sales is been pretty dry for two years, and she had four or five appointments in one day, to go out and take a look at properties and get them ready for the market. So it's happening, those numbers will probably continue for the next six months to a year just swell even more. So the problem isn't probably going in the right direction. I would argue anywhere in the country right now,

Kijana Prowant 37:34

I would say especially with this, this COVID vaccine mandate that they had. Because I know I can't speak for the Air Force, really. But I know for the army, we've been in a lot of the spouses groups, a lot of spouses are panicking, like, hey, how do we get more detail? Because my husband, he's getting separated next week? Because he refused a COVID vaccine, or they're not, you know, filling out those. They're not processing the religious exemptions. So I started seeing a lot of wives on the military spouse face, hey, my husband's got separated? Can you help us find the job? Is anybody got any positions available? Whether that mandated like what's going on? So that right there is a big spike? Because if that's from the married side, can you imagine the single soldier side? You know, and there's a lot more than, than there there is of the spouses that I'm seeing at least on the internet and the several pages I'm involved in. So that was when I was like, hey, I need to figure out something, you know, they need to figure out something, are they going to get their job back? Like what's going to happen? So I know that that contributed in that number fails to be seen as of yet.

Keith McKeever 38:43

Yeah, yeah, we'll see. Okay, you know, time will tell right. Speaking of time, I want to give you a chance to tell us a little bit about an event you have coming up this summer, on the fourth of July. I don't know about it, I guess incredibly funny, and cool. Slightly different spin on something that's already out there. But it sounds like it's gonna be an amazing fundraiser for you. So go ahead and tell us about your your July 4 plans. Okay.

Kijana Prowant 39:14

Hi forthwith. We're talking to the venue right now, but what we want to do is something called the undie ruck. So basically, those who are able to ruck the 12 Miles will meet at one location, they'll be either be in their underwear, or a pair of silkies. Because I know like who heard the silkies March. But what we're gonna do is we're going to take it a step further. So instead of just marching for 12 miles, we're going to get these packs, you're going to set up stations full of supplies that many of our homeless veterans need. And we're going to fill up those bags it'll probably total about 35 to 40 pounds, and then they're all going to rack together are in their groups down and when they get to the bottom to the finish line. We're going to have some military vehicles that we're going to be getting through the Federal Surplus that we'll be loading up these bags to they're going to be able to hydrate but then when they get little bit further, they will have a big welcome surprise of some sort of festival. I can't give too many details out, because how we're trying to roll this out, but it'll be sort of a festival with a concert of some local talent, maybe some national talent, we'll have an area for the kiddos, we'll have an area of food trucks, we'll have a beer garden. And then we have the beer garden for the upper echelon of our sponsors that are coming through. So if you were to participate, you know, no matter the body type, red body positive, we all know, we don't all make the waist measurement, you know, for PT, so it's okay, well, except you. So you rep those erect those 12 miles. And we felt it was kind of symbolic, because a lot of the veterans I help out, you know, the few that broke my heart, and I told them, hey, whenever you need me call me, they'll stay in your Lackland Air Force Base. And for those who don't know, Audie Murphy is about 30 minute drive from Laughlin. And they and a few of them told me they still start walking the night before, to make it there for their morning appointment. If they don't have a morning appointment. Or if they're not feeling good, they will, they will take that walk. And I can't tell you how many miles that is walking. But I do know on my GPS, it was like seven hours. So I was like if we can even, you know, copy a fraction of that. And a lot of them will tell me hey, we have to pack up our bags because we don't have the money to stay next day. So we're going to go to the VA to see if we can get any vouchers. Or we'll try to go to the Health and Human Services Office. And they will carry all their stuff whether it is in the backpack, whether it is in a bag, they'll stop they'll panhandle to get some food. So I figured how can we encompass the filling our brothers and sisters are facing when we've taken it for granted. So you know, let's strip down, it's where we're vulnerable, we're vulnerable, because they're vulnerable to a lot of them don't have the coverage they need in the winter, a lot of them don't have the coverage they need in the summertime, and they're in dirty, filthy clothes. So I know from talking to them, a lot of them feel embarrassed and shameful. But they're doing what they can to survive. So let us feel a little bit embarrassing, shameful. And let us carry you know a copy of their load. It's a fraction. So I feel like if you're able to participate and do it, it'll help you empathize a little bit more with those of us who fell through the cracks and maybe be more motivated to help in the future. So but each person who participates in the rep, they get a wristband, and they get, you know, and they get three pictures from the beer garden, they get pretty much unlimited food, I don't know how much you can eat after a 12 month, March. And I don't know how far I can go with a 12 mile, you know, March and want to eat, but it's there for them. And then also get the kids involved as well because they get to see, you know, their parents participate. They get to cheer their parents, when they come home, we are going to have an art station where Michaels is going to be donating one of our local Michael's going to be donating supplies. And the kids get to make art for our veterans so that when we build our facility, which only takes about 60 days, I actually just found out it takes 60 days to build the whole facility. And all that art will be going up into the rooms and the hallways in the common areas. So it's kind of like that big hey, let's do something extreme for them that did something extreme for us.

Keith McKeever 43:09

Awesome. Yeah, that's a that's a really that's why I said I really liked the idea because it expands on something that's already great it because irreverent warriors does the silky hikes and it's really good for the mental health but to take that it's kind of spin and, and the backpacks and carry this carry the load and let people kind of feel it, I think is incredibly powerful. So I can tell you, I would come down and join but San Antonio is a little ways away from Central Illinois. Food at the end of it I you know, it could be a motivator.

Kijana Prowant 43:44

You know, you don't have to wreck the 12 Miles actually, I'm working with my friend radio. And we're talking to a few bets that are W MTS. And we're going to come up with something that those veterans who if they can't rock, the 12 mile path, then they're going to be able to do something as well, that makes sure they contribute whether it's manning the stations when they come through providing first aid at you know, at the events, driving go karts around to make sure we have some sort of help for those that may be a little bit dehydrated. Everybody who wants to participate will be able to do so. And you know, who knows, Keith, when time comes by, you might see a name, you know, on the website and you're like, you know, I gotta be there. And then I'll have a Coney Island corndog waiting for you.

Keith McKeever 44:33

One Coney Island corndog Yes, it's almost someone's tempting to go make it all the way down to San Antonio. I've been down here in years, obviously. But you could give these guys a bullhorn by the way. And you could just have them along the edge of the of the road and you could just have them not harassing in a bad way. But you could just give a little verbal motivation to everybody walking and hiking. If you know what I'm saying, you know, the military version of Well verbal motor motivation.

Kijana Prowant 45:02

Hasn't Jody's going to, you know, sky's the limit

Keith McKeever 45:07

as long as it's clean, and nobody's getting, you know, disrespected or offended, which is a fine line for veterans. But the last thing for you before you wrap up, got to keep that in there. Because we all we all don't want to talk about there. But you know, since you are a nonprofit, we obviously know now what what you're doing down there, but what do you what do you need most? Now, if somebody's listening to this, at some point in time, this is hey, you know, I'm really driven to to help here. What does your organization need the most Oh, now.

Kijana Prowant 45:37

So I would say the biggest thing for us, of course, would be money. So you know, we're a new nonprofit, we're coming up on a year of being formed. So for us to throw this fundraiser, we're asking people, if they cannot donate, and they know people who can donate on our page soon, we're about to, I'm actually working on the website. You know, today, Sunday, so I'm working on the website, and Monday, tomorrow, it's launched. But if they cannot donate themselves, we asked them to start a peer to peer fundraising campaign on the peer to peer fundraising campaign, you get to add a photo, they get to add a little bit about themselves, they get to say why they're raising money, what they learned about veteran homelessness, and we get funds to that way. And for those that are in San Antonio, or want to fly out here for this, we ask that, you know, register, you know, pay the fee register, start your own campaign, expect your box of silkies or briefs that are going to be customized, and I'm roping ginger into that. And we're gonna have some merchandise coming out too. So when you purchase the merchandise, it helps us with our events, at least you get something out of it, if that's one of the things he likes, that's the biggest thing because our kit that we're customizing, and like we were getting a big percentage of it off. That's the whole motivation behind this because luckily, we're in the process of getting land donated. And we already have our concrete in our well and our septic that's gonna be donated as well. So it's like as soon as the event ends, and we count the funds, we say the thank yous, our kit is going to start being driven down from Oregon, all the way to San Antonio, and it was put together so that's the most important thing because with everything going on. And you know that we all see on the news, a lot of people are being affected by it. A lot of people need us. So we're trying to get this kit together. And that's the big thing behind this fundraiser. So any help that we can get, even if it's just $5 $10 you know, pressing the McDonald's cheeseburger, we will take it and we will be very grateful for it.

Keith McKeever 47:30

Absolutely. So you heard it there. If you feel inspired, please donate or help out. However we can you know, what is sharing social media, share it on social media, If you can't donate a dime, share it, because it might it might hit two or three people that do feel motivated to do that. So are good eyes. Absolutely. The more eyes you see that you get on, the better that your mission goes. I mean, I say same thing for my podcast like hey, if it's even if it's a topic that's not of interest to you, please share, please share it with your network, share it within the veteran community because we got to help each other. So once again, your project is called Project steel. Unlike some of the last couple episodes I put out and I had to spell it out this was should be pretty easy. Everybody should be able to spell the website. It's definitely W project steal calm. I know inside joke on that Wiki on last last couple I have to spell out because they were still funny. Wanting to make sure that the listeners can understand it, even though it's in the show notes. But so go, everything will be in the show notes. Go find it. Follow Kiana what she's doing. And you know, I got to ask you sure you're taking photos of this. Because I really want to see all this set up the well the septic, the build, I want to see all of this stuff. And it's still nice because I mean, that's always funny.

Kijana Prowant 48:55

I'll keep actually when this is over, I'll let you in on a secret but I guarantee you there will be lots of photos and videos of what's going on. I can prepare like when I spill the beans for you afterwards. So you'll be excited before I promise.

Keith McKeever 49:13

I'm looking forward to it. So once again, I appreciate you being here and take it easy and keep keep grinding hard for all of our brothers and sisters who need it