The War on Homeless Veterans
In today’s society we treat veterans with the utmost respect and prize them for their duties defending America. Yet, on the streets of major cities, approximately 11% of homeless persons are veterans. That is almost 50,000 men and women who have put their lives on the line and are rewarded with poverty. A larger statistic, 1.4 million, is the number of veterans who are on the verge of becoming homeless or poverous.
A story that truly shows what homeless veterans must go through is an anecdote from Veteran Affairs that entails the life of a homeless veteran after combat. After serving in the Operation Iraqi Freedom, an unnamed veteran returned with severe trauma disorder, now diagnosed as PTSD. He turned to drugs
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Many specifically cater to veterans like the man from New York City. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, or NCHV, is a non-profit group located in Washington D,C. It was founded in 1990 by a small group of community-based service providers who were troubled by the number of homeless veterans living on the streets of D,C. They struggled for the first three years but eventually had the first office running in DC in 1993. The NCHV serve homeless veterans who are struggling to find work and shelter, irrelevant of their past record. They serve any veteran from the Vietnam war to recent wars and operatives such as Enduring Iraqi Freedom. The organization offers many resources to homeless veterans. They coordinate efforts that provide secure housing, nutritional meals, basic physical health care, substance abuse care, mental health counseling, and they work to accommodate any service a veteran needs. Some ways a civilian could get involved are donating personal needs items, food or cash. Another option is volunteering as a mentor, counselor, or legal aide or work at Stand Down programs which provide a secure retreat to homeless veterans. Overall, this organization is making a big impact on the numbers of homeless veterans in the United