It’s a hard life on the street for a wounded veteran

Matt, a wounded veteran and an artist who worked as an illustrator for DC Comics, has been living on the streets of Annandale for the past year.

He agreed to share his story with Annandale Today to shine a spotlight on what it’s like to be homeless in our community.

Matt, 47, is unable to work because of severe health problems – he’s been in and out of the hospital numerous times – and without any money coming in, he can’t afford an apartment.

He spends his days under a tree on Little River Turnpike on the edge of the Giant parking lot. When it gets dark, he walks – with difficulty – to his sleeping spot outside the Annandale Post Office.

His entire earthly possessions consist of a sleeping bag and a few bags with clothes; medications for diabetes, heart failure, and high blood pressure; and some food dropped off by kind strangers.

Rough living is dangerous; Matt’s things have been stolen, including his portfolio of drawings and his drawing supplies, and he’s been harassed by other homeless people. Unlike many others living on the street, Matt says he never used drugs and stopped drinking years ago.

Matt says he never thought he would end up living on the street, but all it takes is a few setbacks and bad luck.

After graduating from college in Pennsylvania in 1995, he spent two years at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, but dropped out when he could no longer afford the tuition. He then spent six years in the Army.

He was stationed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, where he served in the 82nd Airborne Division’s White Devil regiment.

During an assignment with Task Force Panther, which was searching for Bin Laden, he was in a convoy of Humvees that was blown up by an IED.

Several soldiers were killed, and Matt was severely injured. He had a broken leg, torn knee muscles, shrapnel embedded in his skull, and shrapnel all over the left side of his body.  

Matt spent three months in a hospital on an Army base in Germany. He still has severe pain in his leg and finds it difficult to walk.

Back in the U.S., he completed his studies at the School of Visual Arts, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in illustration. For a while, he worked at Quinn’s Auction Galleries in Falls Church while helping his mother cope with cancer treatments.

He then got a job illustrating the Green Lantern for DC Comics while living in Maine with a woman who had four special needs kids.

The relationship eventually fell apart. “The kids hated me. I told her I had to get out,” he recalls. He left with nothing and ended up living on the streets in Northern Virginia. “It’s the gift from Afghanistan that keeps on giving.” 

He got a job at Einstein Bros. Bagels in Bailey’s Crossroads. “My leg was not good. It was hard to work but I tried,” he says. The manager let him take showers and hang out at her house.

Meanwhile, he was in and out of the hospital with chronic pancreatitis, including a month-long stay last year. When he was discharged from Inova Alexandria Hospital, he was transferred to the Annandale Healthcare Center, a nursing home on Columbia Pike.

“It was a terrible place. It was like an asylum,” he says. “The nurses were hostile, rude, and didn’t care. The nurses were sleeping in the hallway. Trying to get ice water was an ordeal.”

He got a spot at the Bailey’s Shelter & Supportive Housing on Seminary Road, but didn’t stay more than one night.

“That place is a zoo. There are lots of bad, bad people in there. They steal, beat, harass – you name it,” he says. “Most of the staff are terrible. They are cruel, rude, and unhelpful. I would never go back.”

During the winter, he was able to sleep at churches participating in the hypothermia program. Under that program, churches open their facilities at night to unsheltered individuals who would otherwise be out in the cold.  

He went back to work at Einstein, but had a pancreatitis flare-up there, spent a week in the hospital, and can no longer work.

Matt says he’s too embarrassed to reach out to his family for help. He has a brother in Germany and a sister and brother with professional careers on the West Coast. He hasn’t talked to them in a long time, and they don’t know he’s homeless.  

During our chat, several people stopped by to give Matt some cash. One kind woman, who goes by Cathy, has been visiting nearly every day, dropping off food and trying to connect him with social services.  

“It’s tragic any time there is a veteran on the street,” she says. “This situation is particularly tragic, as Matt is a talented artist. Having diabetes and living on the street is horrible.”

On June 9, an employee with the VA finally contacted him and promised to provide help.

Matt wants people to know that homelessness “could happen to anyone. Don’t take anything for granted.”

“Two years ago, I had a wife, a seven-bedroom house in Maine, and was making six figures,” he says. “In two months, I went from bliss to this.”