Donna, United States Army
by Cathy ten Broeke

“Being homeless feels like running an obstacle course and just not being able to do it.”

Donna made a mistake by going AWOL when she needed to help her son recover from major surgery. She returned to service but wasn’t granted official leave. Donna was working with Senator Paul Wellstone’s office to have her discharge changed from dishonorable to general, but “when Wellstone died, everything stopped. I could no longer get a hold of anyone. Without the change in status I will never be able to get any benefits. When times were really bad, I turned to prostitution - just for a place to stay, a place to clean up.”