The interior of Harold Sherman’s tent, located in the woods at Mine Falls Park.

“It’s horrible – at times it’s unbearable,” Sherman said about living in the tent. “You get caught in the rain. I was caught in the rain for six straight days at a time. I couldn’t even leave the tent to go get food or nothing.”

Sherman knows with the coming winter, it will be much more difficult for him to stay warm and to find food.

“I don’t have money; I don’t have a car; I don’t have a job,” Sherman said.

Sherman – a native of Springfield, Massachusetts – said he moved to New Hampshire after his military career to live on a 42-acre parcel of land in Lyndeborough bequeathed to him by his grandparents. Trained in construction, Sherman said he built a house on the land and has lived in New Hampshire since that time.

Staff photo by Mathew Plamondon U.S. Army veteran Harold Sherman is now homeless, as he is living in a tent in the woods at Mine Falls Park in Nashua. He said he is determined to find a job and a permanent home before the deep cold of winter.

After some tough luck and some hardships during the last few years, Sherman said he has been homeless for the last six months. He has found himself doing whatever it takes to survive, including panhandling at times.

Sherman spent much of the day Tuesday working toward getting an identification card and finding a bed in which to sleep. He maintains part of his problem is that many believe there are no more homeless veterans in Nashua.

“We were supposed to have no homeless veterans by 2018,” Sherman said, “It says it all over Nashua – Veterans FIRST Housing. It says it everywhere.”

Sherman said he has been turned away from several homeless shelters and temporary housing facilities in New Hampshire. Sherman said when he tries to get a bed at a shelter, he is told there are no beds.

There have been some willing to help Sherman in his ongoing search for both a job and a place to live. Kathie Allard, who lives on New Searles Road, has been helping Sherman, supplying him with some food and clothing, in addition to driving him to appointments at housing facilities.

She even went as far as to save him some furniture while trying to help set him up with an apartment.

Sherman said he has tried to get a job, but he is frustrated with this system. Meanwhile, he said police officers are aware of his predicament.

“The police have been really good toward me,” Sherman said.

Sherman said he spends portions of his day picking up the trash from other homeless campsites throughout the area. However, he does worry about other homeless folks finding his tent when he is not there.

“They eat my food – burn my wood that I have to provide for myself,” Sherman said of other homeless people. “I don’t have a job. I have to struggle to get what I have.”

However, Sherman said he will not turn other homeless people away because he understands their situation. He is just afraid someone may trash his tent.

“Other people using my tent might jeopardize my place to live,” Sherman said.

Sherman – who said his friends call him “Cook” because he enjoys cooking and took culinary arts in school – said he plans on looking everywhere for a job.

“I’m going to pound the pavement until I get a job,” Sherman said.

Sherman said he is determined to have a place to live before winter, regardless of whether the government or service agencies help him. He doesn’t plan on letting the hardships he has suffered slow him in his search.

“I’m going to do it on my own,” Sherman added.