MINNEAPOLIS— Navy veteran Robert Tassoni was left homeless and injured in the jungles of Central America.
“The gratitude I have is every day. When I wake up, I’m just grateful,” said Navy veteran Robert Tassoni.
Tassoni’s struggles with alcohol and mental illness have brought him full circle. He first came to Minnesota years ago, working on his sobriety in Hazelden. Robert spent time in Wayzata before returning to his native Chicago.
“I was homeless in Chicago, in the Pilsen neighborhood, and it was getting cold and winter was approaching. I didn’t know what to do, so I just decided to get on a plane and go to Central America,” Tassoni said.
Tassoni had previously been to Costa Rica. In 2013 he learned to become a yoga instructor here. It was a familiar place, but this time the circumstances were different.
“I took a tent and started living in a tent in the jungle. I couldn’t get out, I was stuck, I was homeless, I couldn’t get out. I called the embassy a few times to try to get out and there just isn’t the kind of medical care for people there who are having a mental health crisis.”
Things changed when he met a mother and daughter.
“They were both nurses and they offered to do breathing exercises with me. They saw that I was homeless in Central America and living out of a tent and decided to take me in and they fed me and clothed me and they supported my sobriety.”
They helped Tassoni get help. An intensive four-month treatment program. After successfully completing it, the program’s director sent Tassoni on a different path.
“The director of the program took me under his wing and said, ‘Hey, I want you to go to Minneapolis Minnesota because of the veteran care they have for veterans, the kind of care they have for veterans is going to be perfect for you.’ “
With the help of his Central American family, he boarded a plane and landed back in Minneapolis.
“When I arrived, I had a suitcase and a duffel bag, my last bit of money to travel to the CRRC [Community Resource and Referral Center]I came to CRRC and that’s where I met James and the staff there and they took me under their wing and said ‘we’ve got you. You’re going to be okay, you’re a veteran, we’ve got you covered. ​​”
He found shelter at Harbor Lights, where they have an area specifically for unsheltered veterans. Three months later, MACV had its voucher for an apartment. Robert’s new space is what he dreamed of when he was homeless in the jungles of Costa Rica. He believes MACV helped save his life.
“It’s like another vet going in to save another vet going into the trenches where I was homeless, picked up, beaten and then got them out and basically saved them. MACV helped coordinate everything and I always had the support. It’s like being in a ladder, they’re not going to carry you up the ladder, but they’re going to guide you up the ladder and give you a little support on the way up.
Reg Chapman
