I chose this topic because there seems to be a growing epidemic of homeless veterans in our country. This is very sad when you think of how those men and women voluntarily signed up to serve. There are so many Americans that live by the slogan “Land of the Free because of the Brave” yet, you have so many brave men and women eating out of garbage cans and sleeping under bridges. According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans there are several factors that contributed to displacement of veterans such as shortage of affordable housing, low income, and inadequately healthcare. As well as the lack of family and social support not to mention the returning home wounded veterans suffering with the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression
In 2014 it was reported 49,933 Veterans were homeless. This is only 8.6% of the homeless population, before the use of HUD-VASH Veterans accounted for 67.4% of the homeless population, marking huge leaps forward in the efforts to end Veteran homelessness. (Fact Sheet, 2015) HUD-VASH was originally created in 1992 but did not gain support until 2007 (Driscoll). Congress added an abundant amount of funding or the program after issues with Veterans returning to a low economy aroused (Driscoll).
According to National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV), the likely persistence of this problem is evident on considering that the homeless veterans are identified to be younger on average in comparison to the entire veteran population. Among these, 9 percent is made up of those aged between 18 and 30, while 41 percent are in the 31-50 years bracket. Nevertheless, veterans in the 18-30 age bracket make up only 5 percent while those aged 31 to 50 make less than 23 percent. Notably, the exact figure of the homeless veterans may be impossible to establish considering the difficulty posed by the transient nature of such populations. However, estimates by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development indicate that there are 49,933 homeless veterans at any given night.
When you think of veterans, it is rare that horses come to mind, unless it involves a Civil War. A typical soldier and horse statue honoring our veterans does more than symbolize gratitude and bravery. These stone tributes describe the post-war relationship between a soldier and horse. Ironically, the horse also serves as a curing tool for veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This is the idea behind the latest direction taken by The Red Barn’s program “Take the
Veterans and our soldiers are coming home from war or getting out of the military and when they get home they can’t afford rent or they have a mental disease from war. Homeless veterans tend to experience homelessness longer than non-veteran homeless. This should not be happening to our soldiers. This is very undesirable for our troops to come home and becoming homeless. They fight for our freedom and our rights and we repay them by becoming homeless.
These Veterans each day ask themselves where they’re going to find their next meal, and where they’re going to spend the night. Not only that, but many of these Veterans are suffering from diseases and injuring that they sustained in battle. These Homeless Veterans are not receiving help they need from
Helping our veterans should be mandatory because of their sacrifice. Even though some people believe war veterans acquire enough from the Government, others believe they deserve more for their services. Veterans of the United States of America should not be homeless since they fought for our country with a sense of bravery and commitment. Therefore, the Department of Veterans Affairs should be reconstructed, also expanded to meet the growing need of our veterans.
The America I believe in provides food and shelter for homeless veterans. When homeless veterans come home from protecting our country they usually end up with no food, and no home. as said by pres. Barack Obama, “no one who fights for this country should have to fight for a job, a roof over their head and the care that they need when they come home”. I love that quote because it’s true.
Homeless veterans and how they live on the streets and how they got homeless. Also how our government is trying to get rid of so many homeless Veterans. Society needs to invest in homeless veterans problem. Homelessness “Is not having a place to live.”
Simply put, a clear majority of the homeless are in fact veterans. The article Elderly Homeless Veterans in Los Angeles also defined that within a study all veterans “reported to have had deteriorating health mentally and physically,” but have you wondered if women or men are affected more? The U.S population is about 318 million, 49% of which is male and 51% of female. In a documentary titled Her War, Mimi Chakarova states that there are numerous government reports have uncovered that last year (2011) the number of homeless women had “more than doubled”. Chakarova (2012).
America’s favorite excuse for homeless people is that they’re lazy. But even higher ranked veterans end up on the cold, hard streets. They are constantly turned away from jobs when they return home from being out the country doing tours around the world. In an interview with to veterans that fought in Vietnam, they were injured and dropped off. Once they were seen as unfit to fight they were sent back with nothing but PTSD and terrible memories of the war they fought in.
Men and women who have made the sacrifice to serve in the military are often thought to be deserving of special resources and benefits after their service to our country ends. Unfortunately, for the veterans who become incarcerated, they may not receive these resources. This may be a contributing cause of their incarceration. They also may not have access to these resources while they are incarcerated, or even after their release. Neglecting to recognize the importance of their needs is likely to hinder their ability to reintegrate into society and lead productive lives.
However, there are for sure people on the street that play a part in the increasing crime rates in some neighborhoods but just because they are homeless does not mean that they are criminals. A lot of times people that are homeless are veterans because they are suffering from some sort of mental disorder and they cannot hold down a job or they could not find a job after they got out of the military. And being in the military myself I can say first hand that fellow members are very hardworking and sacrifice so much day in and day out most of which people do not even realize so it really sucks to see veterans living on the streets they fought to
Homeless veterans need more help After all the things that homeless veterans have done for this country, they need more help. Many times, veterans will be seriously injured while in service. Whether it’s a physical or mental injury, they are serious.
They argue that the government should not be spending significant amounts of money to veterans or people that just came out of war. While they acknowledge that some veterans are so psychologically damaged by their experiences in battle that they cannot function properly in society and require disability payments, other veterans, they say, may become unnecessarily dependent on veterans' services. Although, all these are valid arguments that they can make, in the long run by helping veterans out it will greatly impact not only veterans individually but the society in a positive
The issue of homelessness in America has been evident since the early 1600’s. Across the country men, women and children spend their nights on the streets not knowing when or if they will ever find a permanent home. States and federal officials or city councils have tried to alleviate or at least reduce the number of homeless over the last several decades at a city, state or national level but it continues to be an ongoing problem. There is a multitude of factors that account for the growing homeless population that affects each state in the country differently. Though there are many contributing factors that contribute to the amount of people living on the street at any given night in the U.S.