{"id":196833,"date":"2024-06-11T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-11T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=196833"},"modified":"2024-06-11T19:23:03","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T19:23:03","slug":"veteran-rebounds-from-rejection-and-homelessness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=196833","title":{"rendered":"Veteran rebounds from rejection and homelessness"},"content":{"rendered":"

For anyone struggling through homelessness or other hard times, Navy Veteran Anya McDonald has some words of advice: \u201cBe patient even when there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel, because the light will shine through when you least expect it.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDonald has waited for that light many times, through her family\u2019s rejection of her transgender identity, her recovery from a violent sexual assault and her years-long search for a stable place to live.<\/p>\n

When McDonald felt like giving up, she found strength in telling herself that tomorrow could be different and the light could be right around the corner.<\/p>\n

A dark time<\/h2>\n

In the mid-1970s, McDonald\u2019s mother took her to a recruiting office hoping the military would \u201cmake a man out of her.\u201d With the Vietnam War drawing to a close, McDonald enlisted half-hoping she would die and end the pain of living in the wrong body.<\/p>\n

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She would serve for a little over a year, sailing to the Caribbean and across the North Atlantic to Europe before being honorably discharged.<\/p>\n

One of McDonald\u2019s darkest moments occurred during that 15-month period. Returning to the ship from an evening out, McDonald was abducted off the street by several men in a van and raped. She did not report the assault for fear of victim blaming, instead burying the memories as best she could.<\/p>\n

Over the next two decades, McDonald would stay with her mother and stepfather, or father and stepmother, periodically continuing to live as a man. In 1998, she made the decision to leave for California where she hoped to be able to live as her authentic self.<\/p>\n

Finding the light<\/h2>\n

Though she was homeless when she arrived, this marked a turning point in McDonald\u2019s life because she was finally free to begin her transition. The decision cost her relationships with her family, but she said she hasn\u2019t looked back since.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t let the people who have put you down win. The best revenge you can get on them is being everything you can be and everything they don\u2019t want you to be,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

McDonald traveled around the country over the next decade, never staying in one place for long. Facing rejection from her family, she was also dealing with memories of her assault that had resurfaced during the therapy sessions that were required before her transition.<\/p>\n

While at a Salvation Army shelter in Minnesota\u2019s twin cities, McDonald was connected with VA homeless services and got her first apartment through the Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program<\/a> in 2016.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s been in HUD-VASH housing ever since and is thankful for VA\u2019s support in overcoming homelessness.<\/p>\n

Today, McDonald has big dreams for her future. She enjoys writing and hopes to publish a book. As a recently ordained minister she also would like to open her own church.<\/p>\n

Learn about VA programs\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n