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Alex McElree
Marjorie Wolf
Berdie Gomez
Chris Nye
Theresa Thomas
Neil Weinstein
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Operation Dignity has been providing emergency
and transitional housing to homeless veterans and non-veterans
since 1993. We have housed more than 875 people since opening.
Our goal has always been to quickly take people right off
the streets, without a complicated referral process or waiting
period.
 As
a Vietnam Veteran, Alex McElree has sworn to never forget.
"We don't leave our people on the battlefield and we
consider the streets the battlefield."
After returning from 3 tours of duty in Vietnam, Alex was
homeless himself several times and battled alcoholism. When
he looked around and saw the number of homeless veterans,
he vowed to do what he could to help them. Starting with his
own Social Security check, he rented a house in Oakland, bought
some beds, and brought home some vets.
From that beginning, Operation Dignity, Inc. has grown to
a full-fledged non-profit 501(c)(3) veteran run, service-enriched
provider serving the homeless and displaced populations of
Alameda County. Our goal is to provide safe housing, nutritious
meals, and a full array of services to help homeless veterans
and non-veterans so they can being their rehabilitation process.
All of our housing offer clean and sober residences with on-site
support for sobriety and other self-help groups.
Our residents collaborate with us and help operate the facilities,
including both day-to-day operations and long range planning.
Many of our residents work at paid staff positions and compensated
for the lower pay rates through reductions in rent and food.
We also utilize professional staff from the VA, Health Care
for Homeless Veterans Program, the VA Compensated Work Therapy
Program, Health Care for the Homeless, Travelers Aid Society,
the Jobs Consortium, and BOSS. |
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