Don’t give up before the miracle: One Veteran’s return to family

By Shawn Liu, National Homeless Program Manager, VHA Homeless Programs Office

August 3, 2026

There was a time when Robert Bell was living day to day, doing what he could to get by. Today, he’s built a life surrounded by the family he fought to reconnect with.

Bell served in the Navy for two and a half years, following in the footsteps of his father who proudly served in the Marines during the Vietnam War. In a meaningful twist of fate, Bell would go on to serve aboard the same ship as his father, the USS Kitty Hawk, a connection that further deepened his sense of pride in carrying on his family’s legacy of service.

During his time in the Navy, Bell embraced the opportunity to experience new places and meet new people. However, after leaving the service, his transition back to civilian life proved to be anything but easy.

After serving in the Persian Gulf, the weight of those experiences began to take a toll, and he turned to drugs and alcohol to help him cope. This was the beginning of a vicious cycle that Bell described as a pattern of “building things up just to break it down again.” Still, he refused to give up.

For more than a decade, he moved in and out of homelessness. At one point, Bell had been living in his car for a year while continuing to struggle with substance use. That is when two dedicated individuals stepped in and helped change the course of his life.