Our History

Swords to Plowshares was started in 1974 by six veterans volunteering at the Veterans Administration in San Francisco and a few others who were concerned that the needs of returning Vietnam veterans were not being addressed. They formed an organization whose guiding principle was that veterans must never again be treated as second-class citizens, such as they were after the Vietnam War, and that war in general causes wounds that last beyond the battlefield. Swords to Plowshares is a community-based organization whose programs have evolved to meet the changing needs of veterans. With the country now involved in armed conflict, Swords to Plowshares' programs will remain among the most needed in our society.

Among Swords to Plowshares' first clients were veterans with other than honorable military discharge whose struggles to integrate into civilian life and make ends meet brought about encounters with the criminal justice system. In addition to their need for employment assistance, access to government benefits was critical to supporting these veterans. The fledgling group needed the certification of the Veterans Administration to be able to represent veterans in benefit claims, and after a three-year legal struggle, Swords to Plowshares was granted recognition from the VA in 1978 and became the first new group in 32 years certified to represent veterans seeking benefits.

Swords to Plowshares' history of advocacy is strongly evident in landmark cases that brought attention to the serious wounds suffered beyond the battlefield. The agency was at the forefront in raising awareness of veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. In 1979, Swords won one of the first PTSD cases in the country and helped develop the Agent Orange Self-Help Guide. It played a key role in designing programs that recognized, treated and provided compensation for injuries resulting from the use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. In recognition of Swords to Plowshares' work, Executive Director Michael Blecker was asked to serve on the Agent Orange Advisory Board that counseled the courts that were hearing these cases. The Agent Orange precedent later served as a model for addressing Persian Gulf War veterans' exposure to toxins, including depleted uranium.

In the 1980s when homelessness was reaching crisis levels in San Francisco, Swords to Plowshares recognized the growing needs of homeless veterans, pioneering a model transitional housing program in 1988. Swords to Plowshares also started a drop-in center providing emergency housing and mental health services and referrals. The agency was instrumental in helping the VA recognize its lack of service to the homeless veteran population. And, the VA has taken Swords to Plowshares' lead and established "storefront" vet centers that are accessible to veterans in the inner city.

In 1998, Swords to Plowshares launched a program that would become the Veterans Academy in the Presidio. In 2000, the Veterans Academy, a permanent supportive housing facility, opened its doors to 100 once-homeless veterans and began to provide all veterans in Swords to Plowshares' various residential programs with vocational and academic education, employment placement services and much more. In addition, Swords to Plowshares operates a Transitional Housing Program at four six-plexus on the former U.S. Naval Base Treasure Island, housing 75 veterans at a time. The program provides intensive individual and group counseling, group activities and regular meals. As part of the Transitional Housing Program, Swords to Plowshares also provides two group homes housing 15 veterans near City College of San Francisco.

Always in the forefront to protect and to serve the veterans who gave their all for this country, Swords to Plowshares' work has not only influenced the VA but has also garnered several awards. In 2001, Swords to Plowshares' drop-in mental health outreach program received the Center for Mental Health Services Homeless Programs Branch Exemplary Program Award, one of six programs - and the only veteran-specific one - nationwide to receive this recognition from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2002, a Governor's report entitled A Summary Report on California's Programs to Address Homelessness listed Swords to Plowshares' programs as among the state's best practices for alleviating homelessness. Swords to Plowshares' Executive Director Michael Blecker was also appointed to the national Advisory Committee on Homeless Veterans in 2002, which was created to advise the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs on issues that affect homeless veterans.

The staff of Swords to Plowshares holds leadership positions in local, state and national coalitions and networks that serve veterans and the indigent. Swords to Plowshares has worked in collaboration with the VA for more than 20 years, was a founder of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans which promotes the advocacy of more than 200 community-based veterans' service providers and was a co-founder of the National Gulf War Resource Center, a coalition of sixty Gulf War veterans' groups. Locally, Swords to Plowshares is active with the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness, the San Francisco Homeless Advocacy Project, San Francisco Homeless Service Providers Association, San Francisco Human Services Network, Season of Sharing, Services for Elders Coalition, Treasure Island Homeless Development Initiative, Treatment on Demand Council and the local Workforce Investment Board, among others.