For three hours — usually the coldest three — each morning, Mark Gunderson guards the corner of Northeast 15th and Broadway.



The homeless vet doesn't fly a sign, doesn't leave a mess, and never sticks a hand out. He's on duty when the Peet's Coffee door opens at 5:30 a.m. and knows almost every regular who passes through it.



"He's a mellow guy. Engaging and funny. We've struck up a friendship," says Ann Christensen, the co-founder of Freshly Wild Super Foods, who has invited Gunderson to her home on both Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.



"Given what he has dealt with, he has a good attitude. People like him."



Small wonder: Gunderson is part of the community.



How many mornings he will continue to shiver at the edge of it is testing the city's forbearance almost as much as his stamina.



A 56-year-old Vietnam vet — "Thirteen months. Didn't see combat. I was in the rear with the gear" — Gunderson has been on the street since he lost his job at an Auburn, Wash., plastics plant more than three years ago.



Since mid-December, however, he has also "owned" one of Portland's precious HUD-VASH vouchers.



The voucher, city Commissioner Nick Fish notes, "is the gold standard in our business. It pays for an affordable home and the services you need.



"But you only have 120 days to find a landlord willing to rent to you. Then the voucher goes back in the pool."



Why might a landlord balk at renting to Mark Gunderson?



Because he had that lengthy romance with drugs. An old assault charge in Clark County. Blood clots in his legs and the sense that he's damaged goods.



"The city is running a vacancy rate of somewhere between 2 and 4 percent," said Michael Boyd, the voucher coordinator at the Portland VA Medical Center. "Our veterans are competing with folks who don't have the issues associated with the chronically homeless.



"Nine times out of 10, a landlord is going to play it safe."



And go with the applicant who sports the steady job, not the service record. Wouldn't you?



"We've created a system in which the private market addresses the public need," Fish says. "The stakes are high. Mark gives you a window into how hard it is to get it

right ... and how important it is to get it right."



Gunderson can hear the clock ticking. "There are times," he concedes, "I feel like stepping in front of a bus.



"But every time I do, they stop. It's either give up or keep going. And I'm not ready to give up yet. I'm pessimistically optimistic. Expect the worst, hope for the

best."



Fish is more upbeat. After President Obama vowed to end veteran homelessness by 2015, he argues, the Metro area has cleaned up its act.



The city, Multnomah County, Home Forward and United Way each chipped in $10,000 to help the VA find suitable housing. The city has dedicated 42 apartments for veterans at Gray's Landing in South Waterfront. Each veteran goes house hunting with a case manager and a $2,000 security deposit.



Yet on this winter morning, 305 veterans have a gold-plated VASH voucher .¤.¤. and only 261 have a warm bed.



Mark Gunderson is one of the 44 who don't.



"There are a ton of reasons why landlords may reject him," Fish says. "But if we can get him into a home, it will not only change his life but save local governments a

fortune."



The corner of Northeast 15th and Broadway will also be a lonelier place, but I think Gunderson's many friends will call it good.



Postscript: Landlords who want to help veterans find housing should contact Home Forward's Dedicated Landlord Services team at landlordservices@homeforward.org, or by calling 503-823-8333 (Option 6)



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