Michael Blecker was grinding out shifts at a candy factory in Pennsylvania when the U.S. Army beckoned. He’d spent much of a rough childhood in foster care and, at 18, anything looked better than cutting chunks of coconut candy on an assembly line. He became a combat infantryman, and by the time he mustered out three years later with a bronze star and sergeant’s stripes, he had another determination beyond going to college: He would fight for his fellow veterans.
S.F. man who changed the way the country treats homeless veterans to step down from Swords to Plowshares
Originally published in San Francisco Chronicle
Fifty-four years later, as head of the Swords to Plowshares nonprofit for homeless and struggling vets in San Francisco, he is one of the most respected veterans advocates in America. He oversaw creation of the nation’s first permanent supportive housing for homeless vets, co-founded the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans and helped force recognition of post-traumatic stress syndrome and the disabling effects of Agent Orange and Gulf War Syndrome.
Along the way, he built Swords to Plowshares from being broke in 1982 to a $30 million-budget powerhouse that Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi calls “the most comprehensive model of care for homeless, low-income and at- risk veterans that exists in the country.” Pelosi also calls him “angelic” and “an All-American hero.” Others call him humble; relentless.
As he prepares to stand down from duty for, really, the first time since he carried an M16 in the jungle, Blecker sees the work he devoted his life to as anything but done.
