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 John
Keaveney served 2 tours of duty in Vietnam as an Army combat
infantryman and left Vietnam in 1972 with a multi-use drug
problem. For the next 11 years, he alternated between homelessness
and incarceration until 1983, when he was court-committed
to a Veterans Administration (VA) drug rehabilitation program
called New Directions. When budget cuts closed the VA drug
rehabilitation program in 1988, John Keaveney, Larry Williams,
and another graduate of the program started the nonprofit,
New Directions, Inc. They believed that a long-term residential
treatment program tailored for homeless veterans had saved
their lives and felt that it needed to continue to help other
veterans.
In 1991, John met Toni
Reinis, an advocate for the homeless who founded SOVA Kosher
Food Pantry and served as Southern California Director of
the California Homeless and Housing Coalition. Toni became
New Directions’ Executive Director, and John became the
Chief Operational Officer. Co-founder, Larry Williams, is
the agency’s Program Manager.
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In 1992, New Directions acquired its first property,
a home accommodating up to 8 homeless veterans. In addition
to receiving free housing for up to 2 years, the veterans
received food, clothing, drug and alcohol rehabilitation,
and job training.
In 1994, New Directions became the first social service agency
in the country to provide temporary housing and services to
homeless female veterans, as well as spouses, siblings and
daughters of veterans, in Mitchell
House .
Using Title V of the McKinney Act, John and Toni induced the
VA to lease New Directions a 60,000 sq. ft. vacant building
that could be converted to a homeless facility. Only after
litigation, a congressional act naming New Directions and
the Regional Opportunity Center, years of congressional intervention,
support from the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
and the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS)--was New
Directions able to sign an unprecedented 50-year lease for
the building in 1995. The agency raised $5 million in capital
funds from government entities, and numerous individuals,
businesses, and groups helped furnish and equip the Regional
Opportunity Center.
After New Directions succeeded in helping
hundreds of veterans recover from drugs and alcohol, reenter
the workforce, and find permanent housing, the VA proposed
that New Directions create a residential treatment center
for veterans suffering from both substance abuse disorders
and severe and persistent mental illness. In 2002, New
Directions North opened to house and treat homeless veterans
with co-occurring disorders. In its first year, New Directions
North served more than 100 men, thanks to capital and operating
funds donated by New
Directions' Supporters.
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