84-year-old veteran evicted, community helping with new home

ROCK HILL, S.C. — The community is coming together to help an 84-year-old military veteran who was evicted from his home on Monday and is temporarily staying at a local hospital until he can find a new place to live.

Rock Hill police took him into emergency protective custody so that he wouldn't be out in the cold.

The veteran is not being named due to privacy laws and an active police investigation.

The man's rental home on Eden Terrace was piled with furniture, boxes and clothes. They were scattered across the yard, and the street, as a constable came to evict the man.

For Gloria Machin, from the local veterans of foreign wars post, it was painful to watch.

"To see his stuff scattered all over the street, that was very emotional," she said.   "This man didn't deserve that."

The real estate company told Channel 9 that the veteran wasn't on the lease, but lived with a nephew and another younger man.

It's not clear where the veteran's benefit checks were going, but he told police they were missing.

That was the money that was used to pay rent and utilities.

The landlord said the veteran was a victim of circumstances, and when the agency learned he was a veteran, and using a walker, they delayed the eviction for a week so that he could find a new home.

Some of his valuables are sitting at the VFW, on a table, and people there are angry that something couldn't be worked out to keep him in the house while his finances were straightened out.

Melinda Woodhurst, who runs the Veterans Services Office in Rock Hill, said they are reaching out to the real estate community, and the constables that help enforce evictions, so if a situation like this arises again, they can help find answers.

"If you find a veteran in this situation, please give us an opportunity to see if we can help before it becomes an eviction," she said.

The local VFW has collected nearly $3,000 in donations since Monday to help the veteran get a new apartment and they have already located temporary housing for him.

"As soon as the first person heard it, it triggered notification to all the right people," Woodhurst said. “This community has really put action behind their words."

Rock Hill police haven’t made any arrests and it told Channel 9 they are still investigating the veterans' claims that his benefits were taken.

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