Duckworth delivers funds, hope to vets at Wheaton shelter

By James Fuller

Even as the staff at the Midwest Shelter for Homeless Veterans in Wheaton awaited Tammy Duckworth, a sign staked in a yard three doors away was a reminder of the political wars she’s already fought.

“Roskam for Congress,” read the sign.

Duckworth arrived at the shelter Wednesday with a new political war to wage: improved health care for veterans. Having lost her congressional bid to Republican Peter Roskam of Wheaton last year, Duckworth is now the director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.

The shelter staff believes her firsthand knowledge of the physical and mental wounds of war will bring needed change.

Duckworth delivered the promise of a $128,000 check for the shelter Wednesday. It will be the first facility in the state to reap the benefits of a state scratch-off lottery ticket game earmarked for veterans.

She had already visited the facility last summer. At the time, she was in a wheelchair, and the facility hadn’t yet opened. Wednesday, she navigated steps with the aid of a new, $100,000 prosthetic right leg.

The shelter has been open for two months and is already at capacity with five residents and a waiting list.

Shelter officials want to expand to 20 residents as soon as next year. To do that, they’ll need more money and an easier process to get veterans enrolled in entitled benefits. Ideally, the shelter would like to become a line item in the state budget.

Duckworth said such a move must come from the state Legislature. On her end, she’s in the process of hiring a grant writer for the veterans affairs department, a position that hasn’t existed. She believes it will bring more federal dollars to Illinois veterans and facilities like the one in Wheaton.

She’s also developing a single form to guide Illinois veterans through all the programs they may qualify for. She’d also like to see a relaxing of medical privacy laws so the state can obtain names of veterans as they return home and enroll them in benefit programs faster.

Duckworth is to testify in Washington, D.C., next week about long-term care needs for veterans.

Among the possible topics is the looming closure of Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The Washington facility is under the magnifying glass after news reports of mice, cockroaches and squalor.

Duckworth spent the bulk of her recovery time at Walter Reed after losing her legs when a rocket-propelled grenade blew up the helicopter she was co-piloting in Iraq in 2004.

She said Walter Reed is a good example of why at least the health care portion of the VA budget must be mandatory. Walter Reed does fabulous work but lacks a fabulous facility, she said.

“My truck that I drive around, it’s got a six-CD changer built into the back,” Duckworth said as analogy. “Walter Reed has the six-CD changer, except that their six-CD changer is sitting on the front seat, plugged into the cigarette lighter. That’s how they operate.”

Duckworth said Walter Reed must remain open while the U.S. is at war, and for up to five years after to address injuries that will take time to surface.

She said Walter Reed deserves the “bad rap” it’s getting for the conditions, but the staff isn’t to blame. The now-infamous Building 18 at the heart of the squalor was condemned while Duckworth was a patient, she said, but was reopened to house an influx of patients.

“They ran out of space,” she said. “They are being forced to expand their services while their money is being cut.”

jfuller@dailyherald.com