An all-veteran tattoo parlor is hosting a drop-off event for collecting winter clothing and camping gear to help local, needy veterans during the cold days impacting Southeast Texas.
According to Ben “Moose” Morrow, manager of the Ink Asylum Art Studio in Lumberton, staff is collecting items until Friday, Jan. 31. The studio is located at 837 North Main in Lumberton and hours are 12 – 8 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday.
“We are actually an all-veterans shop, with three of us total,” said Morrow. “The owner, Shane Mark Allen, is also a Marine Corps veteran and the other is an Army veteran.”
Allen, from Silsbee, worked at Wizard Tattoo Studio in Beaumont, before starting his own shop in October 2023.
Morrow, who served in the United States Army from 1998 to 2003, said he brought the idea with him to Texas because his all-veterans motorcycle club in Oregon would routinely help needy veterans during the winter months because “there was a bigger homeless veteran problem.”
“I’m not saying that we don’t have one here, but it’s more spread out and not as rampant as it is in the big cities,” said Morrow.
Morrow also noted he’s currently a member of a motorcycle group made up of veterans, dependents of veterans and first responders, called Odin’s Son.
“Our mission is to serve other veterans and I want to carry on that tradition now that I’m here in Texas,” said Morrow.
Morrow said he’s met several veterans through the area’s Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) chapters.
“We’re trying the help the veterans who are down-and-out with winter clothing, socks, underwear, blankets and sleeping bags,” he said.
Morrow was born in Kentucky, but his father’s family is from the Fort Worth area.
“Every summer, I spent with my grandfather in Texas, and most of my military career and training was in the South,” he noted. “I’m kind of a Southern boy at heart.”
After graduating from Douglas High School in Winston, Oregon, Morrow enlisted in the U.S. Army and finished out his military service at Fort Lewis, Washington, as a lance corporal. He later moved to Oregon.
Morrow said that, “because of the way things were going on the West Coast, especially with education,” he sold his home in Junction City, Oregon, in December 2023 and moved his family and business to Lumberton, where his teenage daughter attends Lumberton High School.
Jan. 11, Teddy Morse Cowboy Harley-Davidson in Beaumont will host a Winter Clothing Rally for veterans to stop by and select winter clothing that has been donated throughout the month of December. They also choose from new and gently used coats, jackets, sweaters, gloves, scarves, caps, socks and blankets, and veterans enjoy a complimentary lunch.
The clothing drive was organized and supported by HOG (Harley Owners Group) Chapter 5298, VFW 4820, MotoGrave and Combat Vets 23-13.
Homeless veteran numbers
According to the Texas Homeless Network, men accounted for 87.2% (3,581 veterans) and women accounted for 10.6% (436 veterans) of the total veteran homeless population in Texas.
Veterans Affairs (VA) reported the Point-In-Time (PIT) Count for January 2024 showed the total number of veterans who experienced homelessness was 32,882 – a decrease 7.5% over January 2023. Breaking this down further, 19,031 veterans experienced sheltered homelessness and 13,851 veterans experienced unsheltered homelessness.
Veterans who experience sheltered homelessness often live in places such as emergency shelters, transitional housing programs or other supportive settings. Veterans who experience unsheltered homelessness live in places not meant for human habitation, such as cars, parks, sidewalks, abandoned buildings and on the street.
According to Monica Diaz, senior executive director of the VA Homeless Programs Office, veteran homelessness reached an all-time low in 2024 and the governmental agency exceeded its goal to house 41,000 veterans by over 16%.
“Ultimately, we housed the largest number of veterans in a single year since 2019,” she reported. “All the elements that came together to change people’s lives this year were truly an inspiration.”