The first event of its kind in a decade on Oahu will provide homeless veterans on Wednesday with breakfast, lunch, haircuts, clothes, legal advice and even an entrance down a mini red carpet.

"We hope the veterans will feel loved," said Noe Foster, chief executive officer and founder of theStrategist, a minority health care advisory firm organizing Stand Down 2011.

The half-day event will represent a smaller version of annual, multiday gatherings of homeless veterans across the country that try to connect veterans to a range of medical, housing, employment and other services to get them off of the street.

"In the military, a stand down is meant as a time for rest and rejuvenation," Foster said. "We hope that our veterans remember that they are appreciated and valued. We hope this is a jump-start to get them in the right direction."

Organizers are planning for 100 veterans, but want to see as many as possible.

A snapshot of Oahu’s homeless population taken on Jan. 25 found 332 homeless veterans, but Foster believes the number could be wildly underestimated.

Darryl Vincent, Hawaii state director of the U.S. Vets homeless program in Kalaeloa, has attended weekend-long stand downs in Las Vegas, Phoenix and Compton, Calif., that have helped homeless veterans connect to jobs and homes.

"It’s a way of saying, ‘Welcome home,’" Vincent said. "It’s almost like they’re coming home from a deployment."

U.S. Vets will oversee the Oahu stand down’s clothing distribution and also will bring 50 of its homeless clients, such as Pamela Usher, 56.

Usher, a former Army private first class, had been homeless for two months and was sleeping at the Waipahu library when outreach workers from U.S. Vets picked her up and brought her to Kalaeloa last month.

Now she dreams of earning her teaching credential by the end of the year and resuming her former career as a middle school health and physical education teacher — perhaps as soon as the spring semester.

Usher has been happy at U.S. Vets so far, but looks forward to meeting other homeless veterans at Wednesday’s stand down, as well as taking advantage of the services that will be offered.

"I know I’ll be around lots of different people," Usher said. "I’m excited about it."

Philip Behneke, a 28-year-old former Air Force airman first class, has been homeless for a month. He has a job and just needs time to regroup to be able to afford his own place, he said.

At the stand down, Behneke also will be curious about the services that will be offered.

But he primarily hopes that his own positive attitude rubs off on other homeless military members.

"A little bit of discipline doesn’t hurt," Behneke said. "But positive attitudes are contagious."