Homeless Vets Are in the Lurch

Ignatia House, once a nunnery for sisters caring for veterans and later a guest house, was rented to U.S. Vets at a discounted rate on an "as is" basis, which meant that the home was not responsible for maintaining the building. U.S. Vets did not want to spend money on improvements in a building meant as a temporary home.

The building has sunk into disrepair, with an elevator out of commission for weeks, darkened hallways and little heat.

"Ignatia House was always intended as a step into entering into a long-term lease" in one of the other properties on the campus, said Thomas R. Cantwell Jr., a founder and former executive director of the U.S. Veterans Initiative.

Cantwell also heads the for-profit Cantwell-Anderson and its subsidiary Cloudbreak, which holds the lease on Ignatia House. An audit last year by the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps and other networks of nonprofit service organizations, said the vets group has had a number of "less-than-arms-length transactions" with Cantwell-Anderson. The audit also questioned whether $500,000 in grant money was spent and accounted for properly in 2006.

Black said the retirement home is aware of the audit. "It raises concerns that they're not following the rules," she said. "We don't think it's good responsibility when they ignore deadlines."

Cantwell said steps are being taken to address the concerns raised by the audit. "It certainly has nothing to do with the situation in the District of Columbia," he said.

U.S. Vets describes itself as the largest nonprofit organization in the country dedicated to helping homeless and at-risk veterans. "U.S. Vets tonight will have 2,000 veterans in beds in six states," Cantwell said. "This is solely because of the huge leverage that the private sector has raised."

He said it was "unconscionable" that the retirement home could not find room for 50 homeless veterans. "It seems fundamentally wrong. Veterans are veterans."

Black said no other sites are available on the campus and suggested it was unfair for U.S. Vets to paint the home as the villain. "It's very frustrating to have them point the finger of blame at the Armed Forces Retirement Home, which has bent over backwards to help," she said. "No good deed goes unpunished."

For veterans at Ignatia House, the dispute leaves them facing an uncertain future after March 31.

"Once you fall through the cracks, it's hard to get back up," said Grover Miller, 65, a Navy veteran who said he lost job as cabdriver after being arrested for driving while intoxicated.

Love Smith, 64, an Air Force veteran, is resigned to leaving. "To me, it was better than sleeping in the park," he said.

Smith said it was no surprise that the shelter was closing to make way for development. "You know doggone well they're not going to mess with that," he said.