Home, 2 jobs make this Veterans Day extra-special Local agencies help Army veteran's 'dream come true'

By Brad Kane, The Patriot Ledger, November 11, 2009

PLYMOUTH - Army veteran Keiron Greenwood moved his family from Texas to Massachusetts in August, hoping to find a better life. After three months in which they wound up homeless, jobless and in desperate need of help, the family of five is enjoying a storybook ending. Today, the Greenwoods move into their new home in Plymouth, and Keiron is starting his two jobs.

"This is by far the biggest Veterans Day I have ever had," Greenwood said. "It has been a dream come true."

Thanks to Father Bill's & MainSpring and Quincy Veterans Services, the 10-year U.S. Army veteran feels like he's on solid footing for the first time in years.

His wife, Dorothy, and three children, Christopher, 15, Marcel, 14, and Alicia, 7, say they feel right at home on the South Shore.

Greenwood, a Dorchester native, decided to leave Texas for his home state in August because he was having trouble affording the family's medical bills even while working a job with health insurance benefits.

The family's plan to stay with Greenwood's mother fell through when their stay put her Section 8 housing eligibility in jeopardy. That left them homeless and living in shelters after only two weeks in Massachusetts.

"Housing became an issue, and at the time I was unemployed," Greenwood said. "I was out doing everything I could every day."

Because he moved here voluntarily from Texas, Greenwood had trouble getting assistance from charities in the Boston area.

Then, one day, he happened upon some workers from Father Bill's Place, and everything took off from there.

Father Bill's, which finds housing for the homeless, was given a $175,000 U.S. Department of Labor grant in August to help veterans find work.

In the the past three months, more than 50 veterans have received benefits under the grant, including training and help with writing résumés.

"We believe no veteran, after fighting for our freedom, should come home and not have a job," said John Yazwinski, president and CEO of Father Bill's & MainSpring.

In addition to the Plymouth home, Father Bill's helped Greenwood land a full-time job as a maintenance worker at the High Point Treatment Center in Plymouth, and a part-time job as a snowplow driver for Aero Snow Removal at Boston's Logan Airport.

"It worked out better than I could have imagined," Greenwood said. "I've never had anything like this happen in my life. Things might seem hopeless, but you've got to be persistent."

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