Leader of Swords to Plowshares has been caring for fellow Vietnam veterans for decades
For nearly 50 years, a Vietnam veteran from San Francisco has served as a national champion for military veterans.
Michael Blecker has made it his mission to assure military veterans don't walk alone, helping them heal wounds that last beyond the battlefield.
"It's very sad, but it's also good to do something meaningful for them," Blecker said.
Like other veterans returning from Vietnam, the combat infantryman felt disconnected after the war.
"I kind of felt lost, isolated, couldn't really get on my feet, or traction, but I went to school using the GI bill, get to school and connect," he explained.
As a law student, he connected with the veterans' nonprofit Swords to Plowshares in 1976. He fought for benefits for those suffering from invisible injuries like post-traumatic stress disorder.
"We challenged the system to acknowledge this was a real problem, and the vets should be treated and compensated for it," Blecker said.
He took the helm of Swords to Plowshares in 1982. Since then. the San Francisco-based nonprofit has become a national model for veteran housing and care.
Swords houses 500 formerly unsheltered veterans..
"They're frail, have issues, they're challenged. They're isolated so that's where support services and wraparound care comes into play," he explained.
Del Seymour is living proof of Swords' transforming power. The Vietnam vet who walked in thirty years ago, homeless and desperate, is now a small business owner and grateful for the nonprofit's support in healthcare, job training, counseling and housing.
"Michael is like the hero to so many veterans who right now are sitting in their living room that's theirs, and will be there for the rest of their lives because of Michael," Seymour said, tearing up.
Blecker has grown the organization from a struggling nonprofit to a $30 million machine that serves 3,000 unhoused, low-income, and at-risk veterans every year in San Francisco and Alameda counties.
He also co-founded the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans and has advised local and national leaders on veterans' issues. Even though he's retiring as executive director in October, he'll continue fighting for veterans rights.
Chief operating officer Tramecia Garner says Blecker's strength is building relationships based on trust.
"I think the thing that makes Michael most inspiring is his humbleness," Garner said. "Just to see him engaging with veterans, it's as if we're part of one community."
Blecker added, "It's like a team and how you can support them. It just feels, together, that you're part of this little victory of helping improve a life."
So for his decades of service at Swords to Plowshares as a champion for veterans, this week's Jefferson Award in the Bay Area goes to Michael Blecker.
Blecker will be honored at the 50th anniversary celebration of Swords to Plowshares on Veterans Day. Tickets are available at swords-to-plowshares.org