Public health officer 1st Lt. Gyasi J. Mann, right,

Public health officer 1st Lt. Gyasi J. Mann, right, 108th Medical Group, New Jersey Air National Guard, helps a homeless veteran choose a pair of reading glasses during Stand Down 2012 at the National Guard Armory in Cherry Hill Sept. 28, 2012. The New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs along with New Jersey National Guard soldiers and airmen and the Stand Down of South Jersey Committee, Inc. co-hosted the Stand Down to provide homeless veterans with access to healthcare, mental health screening, substance abuse counseling, social services - food stamps and unemployment, legal services, religious counseling, a hot meal, a haircut and winter clothing. Since 1996, the South Jersey Stand Down has served as a catalyst that enables homeless veterans to re-enter mainstream society. Stand Down is a military term referring to exhausted combat units that were removed from the battlefront to a place of security and safety for rest and recovery. Today, Stand Downs are grass roots, community-based intervention program to help veterans battle life on the streets.