MIAMI – Victor Torres, who enlisted in the Air Force at the age of 18, later found himself on the streets of South Florida.
"The fact is no veteran should spend one night on the streets in our community or anyplace else in this country, but they do," Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust chairman Ron Book said.
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Torres was one of those veterans.
He enlisted in the Air Force at 18 years old and served in the Middle East near the Afghan border.
"I wanted to leave Miami and my parents' home and find a life of my own through the military," Torres said. "I am truly am proud of it. Not one day passes by where I don't have this pride that I was allowed to serve my country and I always thank God for giving me the opportunity."
After his military service, Torres went back to school and got a college degree in engineering, but then he couldn't get a job and things began to unravel.
"Despair and kind of like how can I get myself out of this, but I kept my head up," Torres said.
Unfortunately it wasn't enough. Torres tried to ease his pain with alcohol and eventually became homeless, spending nights at Camillus House in Miami.
"I would say it was to a point where I became mentally depressed and sometimes I didn't know what to do with myself," Torres said. "At times I was confused where I was and how did I get to this point."
Thankfully, Torres called the homeless veterans hotline and got help -- a one-bedroom apartment in Miami and now a part-time job.
"I feel relieved. I feel like now I can move forward and be able to get somewhere in my life," Torres said.
Still, Torres said he has friends who have served in the military who are still homeless and living on the streets.
"There is a system to help them get back on their feet just like they helped me. Look to the veteran crisis hotline," he said.
The homeless trust, the VA and HUD have housed 500 veterans in the last year, but 200 more need homes.
Veterans in need are urged to call the veterans homeless hotline at 1-877-994-HELP. Landlords willing to donate apartments to veterans are asked to call 305-499-VETS.
To make a cash donation to help veterans in need visit www.411veterans.com.
The Miami-Dade County Homeless Trust Director Vicotoria Mallette said they had 189 landlord leads from the Local 10 News live phone bank.