[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 37 (Friday, March 27, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E505-E506]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 IN HONOR OF THE FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE NAM VETS ASSOCIATION OF 
                       THE CAPE AND ISLANDS, INC.

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. WILLIAM D. DELAHUNT

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, March 27, 1998

  Mr. DELAHUNT. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to draw my colleagues' 
attention to a remarkable institution located in my Congressional 
District, that through years of hard work and sacrifice has become one 
of the premier social service centers for Vietnam-era veterans in the 
country.
  For the past fifteen years, the Nam Vets Association of the Cape and 
Islands has provided a haven in Hyannis, Massachusetts for the veterans 
throughout our region. I would like to recount the story of how this 
organization was created by a handful of men, and how it has since 
affected so many lives.
  In 1983, after viewing the unveiling of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial 
in Washington, five Vietnam vets from Cape Cod decided to create an 
organization to address the human service needs of veterans at home. 
The five leased a small room staffed by a single volunteer to provide 
peer counseling. Today, the association purchased its own building and 
developed it into a well-equipped, one-stop Veterans Service Center 
that distributes over 55,000 meals annually from its food pantry, and 
provides over 1,300 units of social services a month.
  The Nam Vets Association stepped in to provide desperately needed 
services that the state was not equipped to supply. The Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts granted Nam Vets a contract to oversee the delivery of 
these services but required a $10,000 balance in the association's 
account before disbursing any funds. Short on cash, but not on valor, 
James Michael Trainor, then the group's president, mortgaged his own 
home to obtain the funds to ensure that the necessary care would be 
delivered to Cape and Islands vets.
  The Nam Vets have also struggled through times when there was no 
state support. When the Commonwealth rescinded funding due to state 
budget constraints, the association's Board of Directors, made personal 
loans to cover staff salaries and maintain operations without 
interruption.
  Over the past decade and a half, the Nam Vets Association has opened 
its doors to all local veterans. As the executive director John Eastman 
said, ``Let no generation of veterans ever forget another generation of 
veterans.'' The Outreach Center has become a major health care 
facility--providing prescription drugs, psychiatric diagnosis, and 
follow-up counseling. For years, the Center was the only place on the 
Cape and Islands where these types of services were made available to 
veterans.
  The Nam Vets have also become deeply involved in addressing the 
problem of adequate housing by providing assistance to vets and their 
families in finding affordable shelter. In 1993, working with the 
Barnstable Housing Authority, Nam Vets won a HUD Section 8 Single Room 
Occupancy Program grant to address the needs of the area's single 
homeless vets. The structure that became the SRO is affectionately 
knows as ``The Homestead'' and was originally intended to house 40 to 
60 homeless veterans. Since 1994 it has processed over 300 
applications. The Nam Vets Association also participates in the VA's 
Homeless Provider Program which markets foreclosed properties at a 
discount to non profit agencies. Nam Vets has successfully found two 
homes for needy families through this program and is currently looking 
for other affordable homes to meet demand.
  The Vietnam Veterans of America Convention recently acknowledged 
something I have known all along, that the Nam Vets Association is 
worthy of national attention. The Convention honored the Nam Vets with 
the 1997 Community Service Chapter of the Year award for their 
outstanding commitment and for the variety of the services they provide 
to the community.

[[Page E506]]

  As we celebrate Vietnam Veterans Day in the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts this Sunday, I am proud to say I represent the members of 
the Nam Vets Association of the Cape and Islands and commend them for 
their years of hard work to establish this service organization. Its 
founders have worked countless hours to ensure that needed assistance 
is available to those who have made such sacrifices for our country.
  Next time any of my colleagues visit Cape Cod, I encourage you to 
stop by the Hyannis Village Green and view the Vietnam Veterans' 
Memorial, which the Nam Vets built with their own hands--an act which 
symbolizes not only their commitment to their country but their 
continued dedication to honor all those who served.

                          ____________________