Funny, Strange, Heroic, and Heartbreaking Stories of Veterans Take the Stage for the Santa Barbara Nonprofit New Beginnings’ Annual Fundraiser

New Beginnings Counseling Center (NBCC) is a community nonprofit that has been delivering aid to local unhoused people and solutions for eliminating homelessness in Santa Barbara County for more than half a century. NBCC offers affordable community counseling for low-income and unhoused individuals, and, through their Safe Parking Shelter program, provides safe overnight parking for people living in their cars. 

In 2013, in response to the increasing number of veterans in the Safe Parking program, NBCC pledged to end local veteran homelessness. With grant funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program was established. This initiative assists veterans who are at risk of becoming unhoused and transitions currently homeless veterans back into housing.

The model is, so far, very successful: Thanks to their rapid rehousing program, New Beginnings Executive Director Kristine Schwarz projects achieving “functional zero” in the homeless veteran population by 2025. Functional zero describes a state in which homelessness within an individual population (in this case, Santa Barbara County veterans), is rare, brief, and immediately rectified. “It’s a functional place where no one remains homeless for a long period of time,” says Schwarz. “Everybody would be housed, and as soon as a new homeless veteran was identified, they would be immediately triaged and housed.”

While the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program is partially funded by the Veterans Administration, New Beginnings also depends on allocations from foundations, sponsorships, private donations, and fundraisers. Mindful that misconceptions and stigmas surrounding the adult, unhoused population need to be eliminated to affect change, NBCC produces an annual fundraising theatrical presentation designed to educate, inspire, and entertain. These productions bridge the gap between the housed and unhoused communities by building knowledge and empathy. 

“People really engage when they hear stories,” says Schwarz, who recalls that one year, audience members approached her for months after seeing Jane Anderson’s show Food and Shelter to praise the impact the play had on enlightening them about the topic (in this case, the struggles of a homeless family).

This year’s presentation, War Words, is written by playwright Michelle Kholos Brooks, who set out to understand a concept foreign to her: Why would people join the military? Brooks, who lives in Venice Beach (which she calls the cultural “ground zero” for people who do not serve in the military), interviewed a diverse collection of soldiers from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, absorbing the stories of their service. 

In the play, 14 actors portray veterans sharing tales of their time abroad — all derived from the many people and experiences researched through Brooks’s interviews. The segments are presented as monologues, though there are interactions between characters and overlapping narratives. 

“I really met the most extraordinary people I’ve ever met in my life,” Brooks says of her subjects. “It was a real game-changer for me. I thought I was very progressive — I didn’t see color or race or religion or those things, but I sure as hell saw ‘military.’ I went into this with a lot of prejudice, and it was an eye-opener for me.”

“So many people shy away from this [topic] because they think it’s all going to be depressing … it’s all going to be dark, and everything is tragic. And that’s not what this is,” says Brooks. “You can’t talk about war without some of that, but I can’t tell you how many people told me really funny and bizarre stories. Being overseas in a strange culture … crazy things happen!” She describes the various stories as heroic, with humorous and heartwarming moments. “It’s not going to wrench your heart out for 80 or 90 minutes,” she says. “It’s a beautiful tapestry of experiences.”

A world-premiere production of War Words opens in New York next month. This Santa Barbara preview performance, directed by Jenny Sullivan, plays on October 28 at the New Vic Theatre. New Beginnings will host a reception after the show (and don’t miss the Color Guard presentation before the curtain!). 

“Deep in my hippie heart,” says Brooks of the message her play delivers, “just like my eyes were opened, I hope that people will recognize [they] might have more in common with [service people] than [they] thought.”

For information on how to attend the show, donate, sponsor, or get involved, visit the New Beginnings website at sbnbcc.org.