SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY, Calif- Times are tough for many veterans. One disabled veteran in San Luis Obispo County is struggling to find a place to park and live in his RV. Larry Pace grew up here on the central coast, and once he left the military he wanted to come back to family, but he is finding it hard to make ends meet.
"I joined the military because there wasn't a whole lot of job opportunities in Atascadero at the time, so I went in the military," said Larry Pace, a veteran. He then came home a disabled man and veteran. "My health has gotten worse so my family lives here, so I thought I'd move back here to be closer to my support group, network and be seen here at the VA in San Luis Obispo," said Pace.
Pace said with the VA backed up, the process has gotten slow and his disability money is short. "I'm living on a thousand dollars a month, so its not a lot of money by any stretch of the imagination, it will get better but it takes time," said Pace.
So he stays in state parks for now, but the state parks system only allows a certain amount of days a year people can stay. "Within the Oceano Dunes District we have a 14 day maximum time limit stay and then you're off for two days and then you can come back for another 14 days, during a calendar year you can stay for up to 30 days," said Brent Marshall, the acting Superintendent at the Oceano Dunes District State Parks.
Fortunately for Pace, the state parks system gives disabled veterans a discounted pass, but it isn't a permanent situation. Also in SLO County most cities have ordinances against using your vehicle to sleep on city streets. "It's stressful knowing that you are not bothering anyone, you aren't doing anything really wrong but the county sees it as something wrong," said Pace.
