After losing his brother and struggling with grief, depression, and addiction, Army Veteran Tim found himself at a breaking point. Seeking help through the VA eventually led him to VOA Southeast’s Eagle’s Landing, where he found more than temporary housing—he found structure, support, and a community of fellow veterans who understood his journey.
Today, Tim is sober, rebuilding his health, strengthening his faith, and helping others in recovery. His story is a powerful reminder that with the right support, hope and healing are possible, and every veteran deserves the opportunity to begin again.
The Fight At Home
When Tim arrived at VOA Southeast, he was carrying more than he could manage alone.
For 18 months, he cared for his brother through cancer treatments, hospital stays, and the slow decline that comes when someone you love is slipping away. He helped bring his brother home and eventually faced a decision no family member is ever prepared to make.
“We actually had to take him off life support,” Tim said. “Quality of life wasn’t good. And it just kind of threw me into a tailspin.”
That tailspin nearly cost him everything.
Tim had experienced recovery before. Years earlier, he completed a rehabilitation program and maintained sobriety for seven years. But after a difficult experience, he drifted away from the support system that had helped him stay healthy.
Twenty-one years later, grief, addiction, depression, and exhaustion brought him to a breaking point.
“I had nowhere else to go,” Tim said. “So I said, ‘I’m all in. Let me give it a shot.’”
The First Step Toward A Better :ofe
Before coming to VOA Southeast, Tim sought help at the VA hospital in Biloxi.
“I contemplated suicide,” he said. “And when I got to the VA hospital in Biloxi in the emergency room, I just broke down. And they said, ‘Hey, we’re here to help.’ And that’s what they did.”
Through the VA, Tim began addressing challenges he had carried for years. For the first time, he spent meaningful time with a psychologist and began to better understand his depression and anxiety.
That care helped him stabilize. But when he arrived at VOA Southeast’s Eagle’s Landing, he found the next critical step in his recovery: structure, accountability, community, and a path forward.
For Deb Murph, Director of Eagle’s Landing, that mission is deeply personal.
“Homelessness and veterans should never be in the same sentence,” Deb said. “That’s why I do what I do.”
A Place For Veterans
At Eagle’s Landing, the goal is not simply to provide temporary shelter. It is to help veterans move through crisis, rebuild stability, and take meaningful steps toward permanent housing and long-term independence.
“Eagle’s Landing is a really nice bus stop,” Deb said. “You’re here for a very short period of time. We’re going to work on the things you need so that you can be successful in the direction you’re going.”
For Tim, that support arrived at exactly the right moment.
“Since I’ve been here, I’ve hit the ground running,” he said.
And he has.
Tim stopped drinking. He stopped using drugs. He quit smoking. He began walking three and a half miles every day. He changed his eating habits, returned to church, found a sponsor, and became actively involved in Alcoholics Anonymous.
“Tomorrow will be eight months for sobriety and no cigarettes,” Tim said. “None of that.”
Support Through The Journey
Recovery requires determination, but it also requires support.
“The staff here and the facility here has been very, very accommodating,” Tim said. “They keep you on a goal-oriented path.”
Because Tim was new to the Mobile area, VOA Southeast also helped connect him with local resources, recovery meetings, outreach programs, VA services, and fellow veterans who understood what he was experiencing.
“They’ve been more than encouraging,” he said. “They’ve been very supportive. They give you direction.”
Some of the most meaningful support came from the people who had walked similar paths.
“One veteran talking to another veteran,” Tim said. “One alcoholic helping another alcoholic. So it works out pretty well.”
That sense of brotherhood is central to Tim’s story.
Building Hope
At Eagle’s Landing, veterans are not simply receiving services. They are building trust, encouraging one another, and helping each other move beyond isolation.
“We kind of look out for one another,” Tim said. “We’re all veterans. Like I said, one veteran talking to another. That’s something you can’t purchase. You can’t teach that out of a book.”
For many veterans, that sense of belonging can be life-changing.
Many also carry burdens that are not immediately visible. Some struggle with PTSD. Others live with grief, depression, addiction, anxiety, or the emotional weight of experiences that are difficult to explain to those who have never served.
As Deb puts it, “There was a whole life before this. And there’s going to be a whole life after this. But we’ve got to get through this.”
Tim understands that reality firsthand.
“Only a veteran knows what a veteran goes through,” he said. “Society has an outside view. They don’t have the internal view.”
Carrying The Weight Of Service
Coming from a family of veterans and serving in the Army himself, Tim learned early that military service often asks young people to shoulder responsibilities and experiences most civilians never encounter.
“You’re taking a kid fresh out of high school that’s just learned about morality,” Tim said, “and you’re teaching them how to defend himself.”
The impact of those experiences can remain long after military service ends.
“We choose to raise our right hand because we love our country and we want to serve our country,” Tim said. “And there are a lot of guys that come back and they do their job and they feel bad about what they did. But it’s in the service of nation that they do these tasks. But still, a lot of times it doesn’t sit right in here.”
That is why places like VOA Southeast matter.
When veterans find themselves facing homelessness, addiction, isolation, or a personal crisis, they need more than a roof over their heads. They need stability. They need dignity. They need support. They need people who understand their journey and are willing to walk alongside them as they rebuild their lives.
Deb often reminds veterans that support is available, but healing also requires effort.
“We’re giving you the life preserver,” she said, “but you’re going to have to do the work to get in the boat and keep moving forward.”
Tim is doing exactly that.
Moving Forward
He is staying sober. He is rebuilding his health. He is deepening his faith. He is helping others in recovery. Most importantly, he is moving forward with hope.
“I set out on a program of building up my body again,” Tim said, “because for years I tore it down.”
His story is one of grief, resilience, faith, and the daily choice to keep moving forward. It is the story of a veteran who reached a moment of crisis, asked for help, and found people ready to walk beside him.
“I’m back,” Tim said. “I’m very cautious over my own well-being and my sobriety.”
Stories like Tim’s are possible because supporters make places like Eagle’s Landing possible. Every bed provided, every case management meeting, every connection to resources, and every word of encouragement creates an opportunity for a veteran to begin again.
Today, Tim is rebuilding a life he nearly lost.
His story is a reminder that recovery is possible, that no veteran should face hardship alone, and that one open door can change the course of a life.
At VOA Southeast, that door remains open for the next veteran who needs it.