“A lot of people don’t realize the struggles of veterans,” Agustin “Augie” Serrano explains.
Through a partnership with the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, he develops relationships with homeless veterans, visiting them and offering food and housing.
“All kinds of circumstances bring them to be homeless,” he said. “My job is trying to reintegrate them back into the community.”
Augie, who retired as a Sergeant First Class after 22 years in the Army, understands how difficult the transition from military to civilian life can be.
Military service is mission-oriented, Augie said. But once soldiers leave that structure, they can feel directionless. “That’s the biggest trouble for us veterans: figuring out how we’re going to complete the mission,” he said.
Through his street outreach to homeless veterans in the Orlando area, he tries to reestablish that sense of meaning through a new mission: recovery.
“Recovery is something that is going to be for the rest of their life,” Augie said. “We start learning how to be a member of society again.”
In partnership with Second Harvest’s Community Impact programs, including Bring Hope Home and Bites, Camera, Action!, Augie and his colleagues distribute monthly about 585 food boxes.
Recently, they completed the “Listen 4 Good” survey, which asked veterans to provide feedback on what kinds of food and services are most helpful to them. Many requested foods that do not require being cooked.
Soon, the boxes were full of more ready-to-eat meals. “When they saw the change,” Augie said, “they knew somebody really is listening.”
Augie knows not everyone is ready to begin their path to recovery, but he wants them to know he’s here for them.
“If they reach out, my hand is here,” he said.
1 in 7 Central Floridians faces hunger.
Kids, families, seniors and veterans need your help.
