Homeless veterans shelter in Phenix City closes following end of contract

PHENIX CITY, Ala. (WRBL)— As folks are preparing to celebrate Independence Day, a shelter for those who have sacrificed and served for our country has had its doors shut. Safe Landing Home for Veterans had its doors shut.

Aid and shelter have been found in the house adorning 13th Avenue in Phenix City for 13 years, three years under Modell McKenzie’s supervision. Monday, its doors were shut on little notice from the Veterans Affairs Office (VA Office), leaving six residents to be relocated.

“They decided to close this location and move the veterans somewhere else because of the cost,” McKenzie told WRBL. “I explained to them with the cost of inflation, the food, the light, the episodes that some of the veterans have when they damage or destroy things in the home that must be replaced.”

McKenzie received notice of the closure Friday, residents were told to be packed up and ready to go Monday morning.

James McCoy served three years in the Navy after the Vietnam War. He has been living at Safe Landing for three months, before that he was living in the group home, Mission Atlanta. Here’s his reaction to learning of the closure.

“Oh, it’s horrifying… I’ve been listening, not really saying much,” McCoy said. “I like this house; I think it’s safe. I wasn’t safe where I was at in Atlanta.”

All six residents loaded up into a van with case managers from the VA Office, not knowing where their destination would be.

In addition to the six residents who were relocated, six staff members are also now without jobs.

WRBL has learned the six veterans were taken to Stewart Community Home in Columbus, a personal care home for adults with mental and physical disabilities. They spent one night there.

Prisco Lee, who served as an Army Medic from 1993 to 1996 and served one tour in Kuwait, expressed his grievances to the VA Office about the relocation. He highlighted the major differences between Safe Landing and the Stewart Community Home.

“The big difference is first of all, when we when we got here, they said initially that there was going to be just three to a room, but they put four of us into a room. That’s number one. Second, as far as the difference is, there’s a big difference. I mean, this is more of an institutional setting compared to a home like setting in which we were at over there, at Safe Landing,” Lee said. “This particular place is run more as an institution, right? Forming lines, being under the same rules as the other residents here that have mental issues…. I expressed my grievance that I didn’t feel that this particular setting wasn’t a conducive setting to us. Number one, being veterans. Second, not having the same issues as far as the other residents are here. The people that do live here, they speak to themselves. They see things. They hear things. It doesn’t take long for someone to realize that this is whatever they want to call it, it’s a mental institution”

All six veterans were presented with the opportunity to relocate elsewhere.

Lee went on to say he wished Safe Landing would remain open due to the personalization of care and safety; his case manager informed him that was no longer an option. Lee is now looking to be relocated to a veteran’s home in Montgomery. Besides the closure of Safe Landing, his next biggest concern is the fashion in which he is being relocated.

“You’re not wanting to tell me where I’m going? Now that I’m here, I realize why they didn’t want to tell us, because obviously we would have advocated for our sake. So, they didn’t want to tell us that they were going to bring us to this particular place because they know that we would have put out a grievance,” Lee said. “So, it was just best for them to stay ‘hush hush,’ and not say anything. He didn’t know where he was taking us? Obviously, they did know. I mean, this is something that has to be planned out. We’re grown people, we’re grown men, we’re veterans and to be treated in that fashion. To me, it was a total disrespect, to be honest with you.”

WRBL has reached out to VA Central Alabama Health Care to learn more about the closure, a prepared statement is expected to be shared to the newsroom shortly.

UPDATE 4:56 p.m. 07/03/2024 : WRBL has received the statement from the VA Office. It reads as follows:

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