Homeless Chattanooga Veteran Asks For Help

CHATTANOOGA, TN (WDEF) – A nearly boarded up abandoned apartment in Chattanooga is where Nolan Lucas calls home.

He washes up in a McDonald’s sink and drys his clothes sometimes in a park.

Oh, and Lucas is a veteran.

Lucas adds, "I can’t have gainful employment like i’m used to having to have the type of money that I’m used to having, I don’t have a home of my home, my truck has been repossessed from me. I have to walk. I don’t have anything now."

Lucas blames a shoulder injury he suffered in 1977 while serving in the Army.

However, in the last 5 months he says it’s been getting worse, to the point where he’s a frequent visitor at the Chattanooga VA Clinic.

Lucas adds, "Because my injury was deemed non-life threatening, kept pushing my appointments back, pushing my appointments back."

The same thing has been going on across the county.

That, in part, led to the resignation of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.

Lucas says, "I kept getting the spin off well they’re going to look into it, but had they looked into it at that time and taken me seriously, then maybe they would have seen what I was going through what I have on this paper."

A patient advocate at the Chattanooga VA Clinic finally got Lucas an appointment in Nashville where they documented a laundry list of problems.

Lucas adds, "Complete tears of muscles, sprains."

But, now Lucas can’t get a straight answer as to when his surgery will be.

We contacted the VA to find him housing in the meantime, and while they agreed to help early this week, they haven’t yet.

Lucas adds, "I believe there may be somebody out there who will see this story, and will understand and maybe offer some help."

That’s Lucas’ wish as we also continue to look for resources within the city.

The problem is .. shelters for homeless veterans are hard to find and even harder to get into.

We also want to add that Nolan Lucas does get a disability check of around $250 each month.

Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke has set up a task force to deal with the issue of homeless veterans, but it’s still in the early stages.