Veteran found housing and purpose through VA and gardening

Growing a new path with VA services

Veteran Patrick Cox always knew he wanted to serve in the military.

“I always used to tell my grandma that I was going to be a battlefield commander as a little kid,” he said.

Cox enlisted in the Army in 1980, but after suffering an injury on base, he returned home to Norwood, Ohio, just outside Cincinnati. There, he fell into drug addiction, went through a breakup and eventually became homeless.

Connecting with VA services

While looking for housing, Cox heard about VA services through word of mouth and decided it was time to reach out.

“I needed some place to go and just figure out what was going on with me,” he said.

After contacting VA, he spoke with a social worker who connected him with Volunteers of America (VOA). VOA soon picked him up, took him downtown for a COVID test and provided resources to help him work toward sobriety and stable housing.

“I put myself back together again a little bit,” Cox shared.

Through VOA, Cox was introduced to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH) through VA Cincinnati Healthcare System. Representatives helped with paperwork and interviews, and guided him through the housing process. Thanks to VA Cincinnati’s HUD-VASH team and a partnership with Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing, he finally found a home of his own.

Getting back to his roots

Settled into his new place, Cox’s social worker introduced him to Nicole Voss to help him meet his health goals through VA’s Whole Health program. He learned how nutrition, exercise and healthy living can affect both physical and mental wellness, and when Voss launched the Veteran Garden Project in Cincinnati, Cox quickly got involved, rediscovering a childhood passion.

“Gardening, to me, was easy,” Cox said. “I’ve always liked to grow stuff, and I’ve pretty much had a green thumb doing it, too.”

What began as a few seeds soon grew into a flourishing garden.

“Instead of wasting his bad produce that he didn’t like, he actually started a compost garden this past year,” Voss said, “and from that compost garden he grew the best squash I’ve ever seen, like 7-foot, 8-foot, 9-foot sunflowers, and so that’s when I entered him into the local fair, and he got third place out of 12.”

Sharing his harvest with others became a source of pride and purpose for Cox.

“What really gave him hope and, like, joy again, is when neighbors saw his squashes and asked to eat it, and so he shared with his neighbors a healthy food option,” Voss said.

Taking strong action to get help

Cox stressed how important human connections are—especially among fellow Veterans.

“I think the important thing here is we got to figure out a way to get the Vets who don’t want to come in [to VA] and don’t want to admit that they might have a problem with drugs,” he said. “You can lie to anybody and everybody, but you aren’t goanna lie to yourself… There’s so much help people need and won’t ask for.”

Cox’s final message for other Veterans is clear: Don’t be afraid to take the first step to help yourself.

“If you don’t try, you’ll never find out (how your life can get better),” he said. “You got to try.”

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