VET CHECK WITH VWHRC'S SCOTT DULEBOHN 6/10/26

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:36

We told them about this thing in here, this board. Yeah. Like a month ago.

SPEAKER_03 0:41

A month? I think it's longer than that. It's still it was like how many Kathy Jenkins ago. Well, maybe. Yeah. Um anyway, here we are. We're gonna have to meet to meet about have a meeting about it?

SPEAKER_04 0:54

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 0:54

Yeah, a meeting about it. Yes. Yeah. Scott Dilabon is here from the Veterans Welcome Home and Resource Center. And if you heard that lovely deep voice, Jimmy. Jimmy is here. Jimmy Schoner.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

That's correct. Schoner. And good morning.

SPEAKER_03 1:11

If you've uh gone to the Veterans Cafe and Museum, you might have seen Jimmy at even our planting party. That's right.

SPEAKER_04 1:17

He made you and me breakfast.

SPEAKER_03 1:18

Yummy. It was awesome. Yummy breakfast. Yeah. Jimmy's the case manager over at the Veterans Welcome Home and Resource Center and apparently Scott's support animal today. That's great. And he gave us our dad joke. That was awesome. So why'd you bring him?

SPEAKER_05 1:36

He's awesome. He does an incredible job. Absolutely. Gives 110% every day, cares about all those veterans over there like they're uh his own family, and uh couldn't be happier to have him over there. He started out uh making omelets and cooking over at the cafe when we took it over. He came in, uh, was sitting at the bar there with his wife, uh asked if uh we were hiring, uh, and that was in the middle of total chaos. We've just taken that place over. I had no idea what we're gonna do. I remember we remember the total chaos. Yeah, yeah. Like, yeah, take over up to the city. I told you so. Oh, yeah. Everybody I said no for months. I was like, there's no way that's happening.

SPEAKER_03 2:17

It was meant to be.

SPEAKER_05 2:18

Nobody kind of stepped up, so uh we said let's rock and roll and see what we can do here.

SPEAKER_03 2:23

Did an amazing job.

SPEAKER_05 2:25

It's uh it's a lot of work and continues. But uh Jimmy came in there, uh we got that rocking and rolling, kept it going, he's back there cooking, and uh just saw the I saw the the skills and elements he had there with being able to talk with people and uh just the veterans that come in that he was speaking with, uh very knowledgeable. And uh I said, I think I think you uh got a way better spot over here at these tiny homes helping these veterans get back on their feet.

SPEAKER_03 2:54

So that's why you were there.

SPEAKER_04 2:56

Does he still do kitchen stuff or not?

SPEAKER_01 2:57

Yeah, he's still in the cafe. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 2:59

Jimmy, you know, I have all this on tape whenever he's in a pinch. Well, I appreciate your cooking, and I know you're so much more than that, but let me tell you.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Yeah. It's a it's a it's a passion.

SPEAKER_04 3:08

Yeah, I can tell you. It's a passion.

SPEAKER_01 3:10

I can tell you I have many passions, but it's just one of them.

SPEAKER_04 3:12

You're a good guy, as soon as I met you, I know you're a good guy.

SPEAKER_05 3:16

And uh so we've got him over there now. He's there almost every day, uh, helping the guys out, checking on them, meeting with them, uh, going over their life really of let's get this thing back on track so you can move your butt out of here into your own safe, enjoyable spot, uh, enjoy the rest of your life. That is the goal for down at the tiny homes, is you to be self-sustainable again, um, with your income. He takes our veterans all over the place to the bank, getting lunch, um, getting getting their accounts set up, uh, dealing with anybody on the phone that the the veterans might not be able to call or talk to, and uh he's he's just been doing a great job down there. So I want to bring him in and uh let him tell everybody about what's happening.

SPEAKER_03 3:59

All right, Jimmy. How do you how do you feel with all these accolades?

SPEAKER_01 4:05

Thank goodness it's radio. Nobody can see me blushing.

SPEAKER_03 4:09

Yeah, so tell us uh what has been your experience? Tell us about your branch, your history.

SPEAKER_01 4:15

Um I uh served in the United States Army. Yeah! I am a simmer down over there, too.

SPEAKER_05 4:23

Two of them in the same building is a problem.

SPEAKER_04 4:26

No, that means something's gonna get done.

SPEAKER_05 4:29

Or needs fixed.

SPEAKER_01 4:32

I served in Desert Storm with the uh with Howitcher Battery, 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment. And uh I spent the bulk of my time in uh Germany, which was great because now I can cook German I can cook German food really well. I can speak a little German. Okay. Um But uh for the most part my background has really been in um in the restaurant industry.

SPEAKER_02 4:59

Really? Yeah, okay. Where did you what did you do? Where did you work?

SPEAKER_01 5:04

Um when I first moved to Myrtle Beach, I started with uh Steak and Shake at 10 years 17. Wow. And I was a uh a manager, uh uh manager there, and um I spent 14 years with them with a franchise owner, and I worked my way up to uh director of operations.

SPEAKER_03 5:24

Wow. So I once advertised them. But then they left.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

Yeah, they just got to do it. But they're big with Trump. They uh we shut down the last one r December of 19, so it was right before COVID. And uh Yeah, Corbin made it hard really hard for the uh franchise to to make money, so a lot of franchise owners say that, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_03 5:48

And it's such a great company, you know. Um good food anyway. All right, so Jimmy, tell us a little bit about Kate being a case manager. So uh obviously it comes naturally in a way.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

It does. Uh I'm I've always been uh ever since I was young, I've always been like a nurturing person too. Like uh friends always came to me, helped with problems, and um always like captain of the football team, captain of the baseball team.

SPEAKER_03 6:17

Coach, pe people's life coaches, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:20

And then uh which to me in a way kind of made it really easy to raise children. So uh how many kids you have? So two. I have two. And so um I I went to I when I started working with Scott at the uh cooking, I was totally content with being a cook there. You know, I mean I again it's passion. Um, but I also have the passion of uh of taking care of people, which is why if I didn't have an order in, you know, I would be out in the dining room, you know, chatting it up with the vets. And yeah, you know, some of them if they if they know if they know you've been where they're where they've been and what they're at, that they'll open up to you. And I think that's that's kind of what Scott saw, and um I was uh I was more than happy to uh move over and uh take on you know 20, 23 people at the tiny homes and uh sign me up. Put me in, coach. Needless to say, uh my my days are full. My days are full every year.

SPEAKER_04 7:25

We almost got a company over there with 23. Yeah, yeah. Bigger than a platoon.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

They call me the colonel over there. I don't know why.

SPEAKER_04 7:33

But uh Colonel? What were you? Where'd what'd you leave at? What rank was your uh I got out as an E3? E3?

unknown 7:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 7:42

So what have you seen as Colonel's an improvement from sergeant?

SPEAKER_04 7:45

I mean, in pay.

SPEAKER_03 7:47

So what have you seen maybe as a common theme or thread in the people who are coming through the tiny home village?

SPEAKER_01 7:56

Well, you know, it's it's it's it's really hard to put a uh a finger on one thing because um because of the diversity. Uh like right now, uh my youngest, my youngest resident is 23 years old, and my oldest is like 74. So, and you know, uh the bulk of them are older in their 60s and 70s. Um so a lot of that is, you know, a lot of them like they don't drive anymore. So, you know, I'll take them to this to the supermarket when they need groceries, I'll drive them to their VA appointments, um, I'll take them to the bank.

SPEAKER_03 8:31

Um sometimes do they open up as easily as you hope, or do they have some issues sometimes?

SPEAKER_01 8:39

Some are very open, very easy to talk to, and and some are it's like pulling teeth. Um but you I've just found different ways. You know, the ones that won't open up to me, it's it's a little of you know what, they don't want to they don't want to stare you in the eye. Like they don't want to talk to you face to face. So I put them in the car, we go to the supermarket. So, you know what, now they're not well, I'm not face-to-face to them, right? So now they'll talk. I'm standing next to them pushing a shopping cart through the aisles, they'll talk to me. Right. Um, so it's just little things like that, and then you just work from there and you just you you do little things to help them get through their days. Some of them really just want to be alone. They're very isolated. And it's just you know, you make a uh a two-minute check-in, last ten minutes. And then going forward, you just reach common ground with them, and then that ten minutes becomes twenty minutes, and then you know what, you you can sit down and you you gotta have lunch with them. Say, hey, you want to go out and get some lunch today? And then, you know, now you're like out for an hour with them. So it's just everybody's different.

SPEAKER_03 9:44

Um But here's the thing I wonder, um, do you feel that in some cases that people that are struggling or you know find themselves in this um situation where needing the tiny home village resources and the veterans welcome home and resource center in general? Do they have these issues prior to entering in to the military or prior to seeing action or something you know horrific that no human should experience? Um or do you think that it's you know it's something that is much deeper than that?

SPEAKER_01 10:24

I mean, I don't think any of them had these issues prior to to uh service, though some of them may have had. I mean, they may have run to the service running away from from from these issues. Um so you know, then doing your service time may have made what you were running away from worse. Um but a lot of them you know a lot of them is it's a different way of life being in the military. I mean there's especially for you know, especially when your first your first couple years in, like you really you have the freedom, but you don't have freedom. I mean you are on a schedule and watched. Right, and you have to be and then you know, you're being observed, and then it is for for all things. Make sure you're doing your job well, you know, you're doing things that you need to do to achieve promotion. You know, so um and some people just aren't built for that.

SPEAKER_03 11:22

Or the opposite, where when they come out and there's no structure, they're not built for that either.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

Right. So then and that was the hardest thing for me.

SPEAKER_03 11:30

Not having the structure. I told you the ev they m micromanage every single part, what to do, when to do it.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

You didn't even say it was all micromanaged, it's just you you knowing yourself, all right, I need to do this. This is what like you're given a task, you're given a certain time. This is get it done. Yeah. If you give three hours to do something, you could do it in an hour, or you could do it in three hours. Me personally, I try to get it done in an hour, so I had two hours of some downtime, some time to do other things. But um some people they just can't they need that that this is where I I gotta do this, this, this, and then you know, I have some residents come to me, what are we doing today? You know, and it's like all right, here's what we got.

SPEAKER_03 12:21

Um So what has this done for you?

SPEAKER_01 12:26

Uh for me it's done a lot for me in in all actuality. Um probably for you know, for two or three years before um before I, you know, I I got involved with with Scott and and and the program, um, I was really kind of living my life day to day. Like I I it was just going through the motions and um no purpose. So part of that too is is um from from my time in the service and um things that I've seen and done. But um being over there at the tiny homes now, I mean like I have a purpose. Um I walk I walk away every day. Honest God, every day. I walk out of there and my heart is full because I helped at least one person today. I helped one person that you know may not have been able to make it through the day if I wasn't there for them. And um so I I I absolutely love what I do, and I I would do it for I would do this for the rest of my life because it's it's I'm helping people and it's helping me.

SPEAKER_03 13:44

Did you ever think that this is what you would be doing?

SPEAKER_01 13:47

No, never in a million years. I've I swore I would die in a kitchen somewhere.

SPEAKER_03 13:52

Yeah. So Scott, um, you know, kudos to you for being able to identify.

SPEAKER_05 13:59

You gotta see the strengths and the weaknesses of your folks and get them in the best spot possible to succeed. And uh I believe that's a gift, and uh, I try and and look at that even with the residents that come in, the folks that work with us, our volunteers. Um and it might not be so sweet of a transition with some of the folks. Some of them get mad at me and and yell at me, and they're like, I'm not doing that, and then they leave. Um, and I'm like, I just want you to be in the best spot possible because this place needs it. It helps everybody when you're in that good spot and you enjoy showing up every day um and doing your thing because we've all seen it and worked to spots where you show up, and there's people that do not want to be there, and they make everybody else miserable, and um, that's not what I want here. Uh, we're already trying to help these people get back on their feet and be successful, which is hard enough. Um just trying to do my own life and keep it on track. Um, and now you throw all of these other folks' lives on it as well. So you need good people in good spots, um, wanting to show up, wanting to be there and and give everything they got to to being good and doing their job that day. Um, and it's important. Uh, and if you don't have that, it goes downhill really fast.

SPEAKER_03 15:09

Yeah. And and to know that there are people that have walked in the same shoes, I mean that's yeah, it's that's why it's very organization.

SPEAKER_05 15:19

I think that's really important too. Like you you're you have to have a group full of veterans and full of people with those experiences to be able to go, hey, I can help you with your PTSD, or hey, I can help you with those finances and that budget. Uh, because I've messed that up before. Um, I can help you with what you're going through in your mind, because hey, I got hurt in the military as well, and so did you, and now you're kind of in the same spot and doing that, and it's kind of this whole group of people that have gone through different situations um in and out of the military where you can sit down and go, you know what, I I've had those thoughts too, and I've sat there and thought about it, but let's let's try and talk about it because that's what helped me. It might not necessarily help you, but let's give it a shot and talk about it because I've got that experience.

SPEAKER_03 16:04

Um but you help people even though uh you help people that are not only that are homeless or you know, any veteran. And that's what I I wanted to also stress that there is um, you know, there are resources, there's help. You can go to vwhrc.org, you can volunteer, you can donate, you can um seek help if you're a spouse. Uh there's just so much. There's a veterans' cafe and museum, there's the Hutton House, there's the thrift store. Um, and so there are so many ways that you can participate. And by the way, there is a stand down schedule, um, uh a couple of them on the schedule right now. Stand down for homeless veterans, where you're gonna get housing information, employment information, clothing, box food, personal care items, and it's gonna be right at the Tiny Home Village, 909 Third Avenue North at the Tiny Home Village on June 26th is the next one. Uh, Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., uh, just over two weeks away. And you know what? Um, there's plenty of information on their website, and I shared this flyer on our Facebook page as well, so you can check that out. And if do you still need participants uh like vendors, or do you need anything?

SPEAKER_05 17:18

Uh we just got a food sponsor, J29, one of our tiny homes. So they're gonna be taking care of all the food for all the veterans who show up. So that was really cool. And uh, if you're a veterans group and you'd like to come set up a tent and talk with veterans, that is that is number one at these events is just showing up and not being on your phone and not being too busy to talk with these folks because they just showed up there to ask for help, and you better be willing to help and and say, hey, what's going on in your life? How what what can we do for you? What what's what's happening?

SPEAKER_03 17:50

Doesn't work you welcome politicians there.

SPEAKER_05 17:52

Anybody can show up, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 17:54

Um still show up from Humana?

SPEAKER_05 17:58

Uh I don't think I've seen her. I haven't seen her in a while in a while. Um but she was helping a lot of folks out when she was there. It's just showing up in that that conversation. I don't care about any of the resources that are there, honestly. It's when you're sitting there and those folks show up and they some of them just kind of wander around just looking for somebody to talk to, and then you come up and say hi, and that makes their whole day just somebody to talk to that cares, um, and actually engaged with you, not hey, how you doing, have a good day, and then you walk away. Like that's not engaging with folks and trying to help them get better and back on their feet. We just had a veteran show up uh two days ago from uh Virginia, got on a bus and came here. He said he put in Chat GP Chat GPT, that one of the homeless organizations that actually helps veterans, and he said it was between us and Chicago, and he jumped on a bus and came here, and I put him in the Hutton House in an hour. Um didn't have he's got like another one, yeah. He's got like a thousand dollars a month or so security. Um has a prosthetic leg, came in, uh I believe he got hired at Taco Bell last night, which is right down the street from the Hutton House. Um just willing to go work, but that was pretty cool to hear. Like, hey, I was doing some research and heard about you guys. It's a little crazy though. I mean, you're coming states away to be here um with pretty much nothing, but I'm gonna do whatever I can to try and help because that's who we are and what we do.

SPEAKER_03 19:27

And how cool uh from his perspective that something something was actually true on the internet. He actually got the help. That's pretty amazing, pretty quickly within an hour. All right, Scott Dilabon and Jimmy Schoner, thank you so much for joining us. VWHRC.org is the website. Stop in for breakfast at the Veterans Cafe and Museum. Thank you so much, boys.