There is a Problem and the VA is not stepping up to the plate to address it.
It should be obvious by now that our homeless veterans are not being served well at all. If the homeless veterans were properly cared for by our country, the total homeless population would fall by more than 40 percent over night.
Homeless services would then have sufficient funding to move many of the rest of the homeless off the streets into transitional housing with services that bring them back into the working population. It would be a dream come true. If only our country would step up to the plate, homelessness in our country would be virtually eliminated. If only….
Lets Summarize the Homeless Veteran Situation.
750,000 total homeless count in U.S
400,000 veterans are homeless at some time in a year
200,000 veterans homeless in any one night
27% of our male U.S. population are veterans but:
43% of all homeless males are veterans – why?
7688 beds funded by the VA for homeless veterans
192,312 sleeping elsewhere – shelters, grates, creekbeds, back alleys. We have Heroes sleeping on sidewalks in every big city.
The VA says homelessness is not related to military service, but:
Veterans are twice as likely to be homeless than civilians
You may think that homeless veterans served poorly in military, but:
95% of homeless vets have honorable discharges
The VA claims it has the largest network of homeless assistance programs in the country, but:
Total VA funding is only $1.37 per homeless vet per day.
VA funded beds provide for only 1 of every 26 homeless vets
VA funds only 7688 beds for 200,000 homeless veterans on any given night of the year.Current (2007) grants cover only 1 bed per 192 mentally ill homeless veterans, and allocates only 14 cents a day per mentally ill veteran. Fifteen states get none of these grant monies, 15 more get grants for one organization in the state, and 20 get the bulk of the funding.
The VA announced a 20% reduction in homeless vets over the last 6 years, but failed to say it was due to the way they count them. The number they reported hasn’t changed in the last four years. During the same period, more than 23% of our Vietnam vets died.
The mix of homeless veterans has changed in the last 9 years
1997 2006
Korea 1o% 4% almost gone
Vietnam 42% 39% dying out
Gulf War 10% 16% rapidly increasing
Our Korean veterans are getting old and dying out
Our Gulf War veterans are increasing rapidly
Our Vietnam veterans have the largest homeless rate by far.
Fact: If our country stepped up to the plate and provided for our homeless veterans, the homeless population would fall instantly by 43 percent.
Note: To find all of the more than 85 Homeless Veterans articles Click Here
I’ve made a few of the posts dealing with useful facts pages that are listed above the banner at the top of this site. (where you found this one).
Heroes don’t deserve
to be treated like this!
Write your Congressman!
Oldtimer
Oldtimer Speaks Out 
We need to make sure our Veterans are taken care of properly. When Johnny goes to war he does not come back the same. It is time we acknowledge that and spend the time to bring them together as a battalion for about 3-4 days and the leadership of that battalion provide some detail in a couple of their major battles so that pieces of the puzzle for most of the soldiers impacted can begin to realize what really happened; what happened to their wounded buddies and who went where when. This will bring a natural “curing” of the anxiety that so many have because no one has been able to answer their questions. Need to start now.
They use the “addicted” and “mental” labels to scare the public about homeless veterans. They want the money. Adult veterans do not deserve bunk beds and shared group showers and rotten food bank food. Where doe all the money go? Veterans are not allowed to get real job training in the shelters just “how to write your name” classes.
I had written my Congressman at the time, Rep. Howard Coble of North Carolina via email. I am still awaiting after 120 days for a reply.
I had also written Sen. Elizabeth Dole, also of NC in 2004 when I was having problems ascertaining the whereabouts of my prior service medical records. She assured me via mail that her office would find them. I have followed up with them, to no further response. This is 2007 and I am still awaiting her office to get back to me on this issue also.
If our elected members were not so busy on other things our Warrior Heros would not be having the issues that they have deal with now.
I know how you feel. I have received responses to my letters but they were not satisfactory.
Every time it has been cut and paste from standard responses by staff, likely never seen by the intended recipient.
I’ve come to the conclusion that unless you have some problem that piques the interest of the media, or comes from an organization with paid lobbiests or maybe a very well heeled contributor, that is about all we will get – either no response or canned ones.
My hope is that someday this blog or yours or a similar one draws the attention of someone that can carry the ball into the other court.
The plea to “write your congressman” was made in hope that someday enough writers would get through to warrant second looks at the problem. Every single letter adds up and at some point someone will mention it to the next level.
I did make some little progress on the 2-1-1 calling issue by working my way up the chain of command within the Atlanta Office of United Way, which has the clout and the lobbiests that can reach out to the right people.
Oldtimer
Taking care of the problem means you have to get to the core of the issue. The evaluation and recognition of the various stressors of a combat soldier has allowed the soldier to be viewed in a more sympathetic light. It cannot be easy leaving ones family and loved ones within a secure environment to go to an area that is not only alien but hostile as well. Physical factors may aggravate the stress and fear and personal problems from home would further cause agitation. The depression, anxiety and stress of being deployed in a hostile land has to be taken care of within the hostile environment for better facilitation which is what the army is trying to do. The leaders no longer view stressors of combat as weaknesses rather, they help the soldiers cope and reassess the situation in a healthy way.
OK, but our government, our VA, our leaders are not addressing the rapidly growing problems of combat stress e.g. PTSD as well as they should, and never have. PTSD is one of the leading problems leading to homelessness among our veterans.
Once homeless, the VA doesn’t really allocate any significant funding to aleive the situation our homeless heroes and their families find themselves in.
One day a year for Stand-Downs and 33 cents a day for grants to selected states for housing, and $1.33 per homeless veteran is just not going to ever do the job.
Oldtimer
I’m glad I stumbled on your site… I am increasingly concerned with the number of Vets I encounter on the streets of Baltimore, and I am saddened we are being treated as a use full tool in times of need, and disposable when no longer required. $1.37 a day per Vet makes that about 495.00 a year… I wonder how many of us that are not on the streets can give a portion of that through United Way, or some other means of support. I’ll be reading you. I also plan on spending some time in the offices of our elected officials making sure they don’t forget.
Charles Fish
SFC, USA (RET)
2ACR Desert Shield/Desert Storm
Thank you Charles for serving our country! You are one of the heroes I’m writing about. You just don’t happen to be one of the homeless ones, thank God.
We live in a small town in Georgia, but every homeless person I’ve met lately has turned out to be a veteran. Heroes that fought for our country living in the woods, not asking for anything, but found anyway by a few people that care, members of our church or members of orgainizations I belong to.
There are not many on the net writing about our homeless veterans and I hope that more will join in and create a tide of shame among those that fund the programs within our government.
The problem with funding is that our homeless veterans have no voice. The homeless in general have a lot of activists and service providers that can generate funding and promote drives for money and services for the homeless but little for our heroes that are too proud to ask for help or to live in shelters.
The subset that represents our veterans who make up more than 43% of the male homeless (when you exclude women and children) is shockingly under-reported and under-represented when it comes to the fundraisers and activists.
When funding occurs it is with a big show for the sponsoring congressperson for that district, a fine new building or renovation that uses a lot of money for a few lucky veterans. So the elected official gets his or her press (Look how much money I’ve appropriated) but 16 new beds in a community with a thousand or more homeless veterans is not making the kind of dent we need.
Much of my later writing has been enlightenment on the effects of PTSD because that has been the major cause of homelessness among veterans, and on job opportunities that they do not seem to know about.
The problem with job opportunities is that such a large percentage of our homeless heroes will not be able to hold a job with untreated PTSD and untreated acquired addictions without services and counseling designed for them.
Thank you for droping by. And thank you again for your service and for caring. Please do spend some time with our elected officials.
Let them know they need to spend billions, not millions and that removeing every last homeless veteran from the streets is their patriotic duty and it will, at the same time, fix the larger part of our overall homeless problem! Surely they can be made to understand that somehow.
Oldtimer
Hey Buddy I think we need a numbers check here. Have you seen that number where HUD says there are 1.5 mil homeless children? But of course some of that is stretched a little I do believe because of some school figures. I believe though based on that number your 750,000 is too low as well as the 200,000 for homeless veterans. As far as also counting homeless veterans, the nation forgets it deactivated a few divisions at the end of the cold war, that added a few troops to the homeless I believe, and also that the VA is using a numbers from HUD supposedly that cannot be correalated from anywhere else including HUD or HHS. You are right the number does not move after 2004-2005 strangely enough, it is quite bizaare of the recent memos they have put out recently as well stating all is well and we are on top of it though other in house reports say otherwise. After the mental health suicide story and they are the largest mental health provider, and the Viet Nam Vet Death Ratios, the Walter Reed Infestation, how they have dealt with the Homeless Vet issue since the 70’s, Agent Orange, Gulf War Syndrome, PTSD, (None of the Above Exists or Existed) now, one should be cautious and more concerned about treatment levels. I am getting more scared the more I read and write about the VA. Just my new thoughts on skewered numbers data..
W.
Yeah, my friend, but I’m trying to stick with the VA and HUD published numbers where I can’t come up with better ones. There probably aren’t any.
They do a good job of indicting themselves with the numbers they have. They say on the one hand that the numbers have come down but on the other hand, the GAO says that they changed the method of counting and depend on HUD for the answer, but only use HUD for a part of the numbers.
HUD does not properly count veterans. The VA does not properly count veterans. Nobody does. Those who counted in our area for the point-in-time count did not ask many of the men if they were veterans and certainly did not ask the women. Some of the counters were just happy to get a count.
The problem is they *blend* the numbers from HUD where HUD publishes a number (no matter how bad it is) with what their stand downs calculate and local VA offices observe for other numbers despite what they acknowledge is bad science. A stand-down or a hospital visit 3 months earlier does not give point-in-time results. The result is mix match of best guess.
The final published numbers do not change due to political pressure to not show backward progress or to actually show some progress even if not real.
The children’s figures include a lot of runaway counts that last only a night or two. Hundreds of thousands run away to a friend’s house for a few nights and go into the estimate of the total homeless children, much like the two figures for homeless veterans. 1) Those on the streets on a given night, and 2) those that are homeless some time during the year. Notice that both numbers for the VA and those for HUD are about double for total homeless during the year vs homeless on a given night. Not a coincidence, not accurate and purely a guess.
Tens of thousands of families get evicted, live in a motel a few weeks, or with family and their children get counted in the total of homeless that are homeless some part of the year, the 1.5 million figure. The 750K figure is supposedly the number that are homeless people (of any age) out on any one night. The schools are trying to follow the McKinney-Vento act, but even with the closeness some work with the kids, can’t pry out all the information they need. Some count all needy in with the homeless and some count all homeless in with the needy and don’t show any homeless. We just don’t get accurate numbers.
I’m sure the numbers counted by God changes every day.
None of the numbers we get are accurate and published figures often do not state the basis for the count. The best guess is what we have to work with and it is useful for some purposes.
What is clear to me is there is going to be an explosion of the homeless numbers due to the combined effect of massive foreclosures and the effect of returning veterans suffering from TBI and PTSD.
Oldtimer
The homeless veterans need housing. If they want anything else they will let you know! House the veterans NOW! No more stipulation housing. The only stipulation housing is if you are a vet you are going to be housed, not warehoused!
I have never seen a sign on a homeless agency that says “We have housing available” Never.
Obama is now saying he’ll at least make sure the homeless veterans get “some type of transitional housing”; all that mean is more of the same overcrowded human warehouses, forced 12 step religion, more never-ending group therapy, bunk beds, open bay group showers, and when the veterans get so sick of that because the are not allowed to get real career training/education or PRIVACY…blow their heads off or back to the streets. Homeless veterans do not need jail conditions. they want to move on! Any agency that says “We give a hand up not a hand out” means they keep all the money given for the veterans and the veterans get squat!
I am homeless and whoever is saying the conditions for homeless veterans are like prison is correct. US Vets in Inglewood, CA say I have to go to AA. I also have to go through the VA SATP and have verification I’ve been sober for 90 days. All I need is a living wage job. I do not have a drinking problem and I’m only 21 and you can’t drink in Iraq.
Brent, Going through a homeless agency will automatically get you labeled addicted, mentally ill, lacking any skills at all, uneducated, and they are the ones to cure you. You will NOT get a living wage job. You will attend all their forced 12 step religion, you will attend all shelter meetings, you will not have any real friend; only their approved friends, you will turn over all money from your min-wage job to them, you will not have a girlfriend, you will slave away doing any housework they tell you to do. You will tell them everywhere you go at all times. That bullets not looking too bad is it? And the sadness is all you need is a job and housing; nothing else! Sad but true scenario. The veterans a killing themselves all the time because the system WILL NOT LISTEN to the veterans. It’s all the same one-size-fits-all crap. Just disagreeing with that system gets you labeled mentally ill!
August, Brent,
Our homeless veteran friend Al is not being required to do a 12 step program as they correctly determined that he does not have those problems and they made no attempt to force it on him. He was placed in a transitional housing program for veterans and he has indicated he will start immediately applying for jobs. He is thrilled. They did not label him just because he was a homeless veteran.
Another homeless friend (Steve, not a veteran) was scheduled to go into a supportive housing program next week but the same homeless agency decided that he also did not need that program so they referred him over to HUD and now he has moved into a Section 8 housing program where his only requirement is that he pay up to 30 percent of his wages toward the rent. He is also thrilled. He moved in today.
I think you may have had a bad experience but it is apparently not universal. It may be widespread, but not all require it.
There may be some confusion as to the terms transitional and supportive housing. Supportive housing provides more treatment options, staff, and requirements than transitional housing.
Oldtimer
What can you tell me about PTSD in war veterans. I’m getting ready to make a presentation in a few weeks so any input would be appreciated! You can email me :)
Uzie,
Try these links:
News Flash! Army Reports on Delayed PTSD
This link will give you 34 articles which mentions PTSD as a category.
This link is a search for PTSD in my blog
https://oldtimer.wordpress.com/?s=PTSD
It will duplicate the previous one but also
pick up a few that I did not list in the category file.
Oldtimer
I checked out Al’s transitional housing program. If he went to a baseball game and had a beer with friends he would be kicked out to the street immediately. It’s a prison-type program. Where is the respect and dignity in that?
August, you are exactly right. These prison-hate-programs are deliberately designed to inflict the maximum amount of disrespect on this current generation of veterans precisely because the AMERICAN PEOPLE of today wish it to be so!
I am so thankful for a website such as your own………I am at the same time very angry at the so called Christians in our present day society.. (I am one of them).I am so tired of hearing this prosperity message while there are homeless eeking out a meager existence under bridges…They are tortured souls, yet humiliated by their own society even further.Perhaps some of our leading evangelists could do away with $650.00 shoes, and lear jets and put their money where their mouths are…Jesus said “feed the hungry,clothe the naked.” The answer to homelessness is the church.” It is our responsibility to do these things. Can you only imagine if we stopped building these enormous churches which cost millions upon millions to build and operate (cystal Cathedral is a good example), and started to put that money into the poor and homeless of this world, what huge differences we could make…God help us all who run around with the “What would Jesus do?” bumper stickers and let a world go hungry and naked.Explain this prosperity message to me a little more one of you big shot pastors wit a jet and 7 or 800,000 dollar homes……The men who made that a reality for you are homeless….Those veterans who fought for your freedom…..The church alone has the ability to stop homelessness and hunger………We should all pray and seek forgiveness…
My father is veteran of the Korean War, and we live in Roanoke, VA. The Salem, VA is the regional office for the State of VA. There are more homeless vets in this small city than in a lot of bigger cities surrounding us. I am looking into private funding to renovate 1 of many old houses here and try to house some of them. They deserve proper care, or better care than what they receive in the system. Proper food (a cook), proper health care (a full-time nurse), and a clean enviroment, service to assist their living habits daily. Just want to give back what my Dad did for this country. He is 77, retired and enjoying his life; all vets should do the same.
I just looked up the numbers in my area:
801 homelss veterans. Expendatures to help them 12.8 million dillars this year. What for? $600,000.00 for food banks (for everyone, not just vets) 1.2 million dillars to build a 14 bed shelter, and 11 Million dollars to fund a report on how the 1.2 million dollar, 14 bed, shelter was going to solve the problem???? Sound right to you??? PS. I would love to see the salary info on the people running that scam. Our vets need real care, not photo ops for politicians. As for the reasons for higher Vet homelessness… Simple .. the “Honor First” mindset of our vets conflics with the “Profits First” reality of capitalism. Most veterans become homeless due to their refusal to violate their honor to suit their employers bottom line. This often leads to unemployment. Unemployment leads to homelessness. Homelessness leads to hopelessness. Hopelessness leads to Chemical Dependancy. Remember, they didn’t come back broken. It was life here that broke them.
Obama said his policy, once he took the office of president, would be ZERO homeless veterans; well homeless veterans are EXPLODING on the streets. Where are the REAL housing, the REAL job training, and where are the REAL jobs? Homeless veterans want to get on with their lives, not linger in programs after programs after more programs.
America has fought many wars and is currently fighting a war in an attempt to make the lives of everyday Americans free, one of relative peace and harmony. Many service members have sacrificed their lives and others continue to make the sacrifice in order to protect these freedoms that Americans hold dear. But what of those who didn’t pay the ultimate sacrifice, the ones who came home to a supposedly grateful nation, after experiencing things that many would not have the courage or the backbone to go through? They come home to a nation and are disregarded and brushed aside as if their service was of no consequence.
So they fade; they fade away into the shadows of this nation forgotten and abandoned because America has no further use for them, has no need for heroes after the job is done. This is the America in which we live, a nation full of forgotten heroes living among us asking for our help. Are they asking us to put our lives on the line as they have done for us? No. All they are asking for is a little food or some of your pocket change so that they might be able to survive. They are asking for our help as we turn a blind eye towards them, hoping that if we don’t pay attention to them that they will go away. But they are not going away and with the current war, you can rest assured that there will be more. They are my heroes, they are your heroes and they are America’s heroes, they are the homeless Veteran.
Kyle, a homeless vet on the streets/sick & nasty shelters for 4 1/2 years, labeled mentally ill & alcoholic by the VA, has a job & studio apartment after I worked with him; what the VA & Poverty Pimps could not do in 4 1/2 years, I did in less than 3 weeks. And there’s NOTHING WRONG WITH HIM! No mental or Alcoholic issues AT ALL!. It’s a miracle! All he needed was a home & job! What a DISGRACE the VA & poverty pimps did to this man! When a homeless veteran SAYS he needs a home & job THAT’S ALL HE NEEDS! Not TREATMENT CRAP & RELIGIOUS NONSENSE!
Poverty PIMPS your absolutly right, what an ambarassment, has become, when words don’t mean anything, is all about the paper work (not the vet) It just seems to me the staff needs to be replace with people who truly been homeless before, they have experience the strugle, unconfortbility, wanting to keep giving to the country by working (having a place they could call home) and I’m still waiting for the action behind the words. WORRIERS OF THE STRUGGLE NEED TO BE DOING THESE WORK (not people who THINK they know) homeless pfc JFC
This week the sec. of veteran affairs said that he had a new plan to have 0 homeless vets within five years. Sure sounds great but I am having some trouble finding out exacly what the plan entails and how he plans to accomplish this. I would love to know.
Dear Sir:
I have 20 units and a house on one acre in Tucson Az. I wish to provide for Homeless vets. I applied last year but with no results. I would like to apply this year but it seem that it may be diffcult. I don’t know this to be true but it seem that the office in Tucson have chose to work with certain people ,so I may be blocked out. I have no idea how to make a end run in the Tucson area. Thanks Nate Wright
The failure of our Veterans homeless is not a VA issue it’s the National breakdown. VSOs, affinity groups, private sector, Federal, state, local governments all joustle for photo ops while the stage and the lights are avialable. Few hang around to do the real grunt work… in the hood at the local level in the community where our veterans reside. This is our Nation’s problem out-of-sight-out-of-mind… but let a camera and reporters show-up and they all come together to eliminate veterans homeless. We can start by providing a vet real job… Support http://www.lulac.org/cpp
I wm doing some some research for a class and ran into this web site. Ialso am a reservist for the past 23 years. My heart hurts as I read these blogs, and I wonder what about family support ( don’t misunderstand,I am not making excuses for the VA). Aren’t we, the families and friends of those who have fought and protected this country, so we can sleep worry free at nights just as guilty? If every one volunteered in some small way, whether it’s monetary donations, or sharing our skills to help these veterans, may be life could be much better for them and us. One day too late we will understand the US government cannot do it all. As citizens we have to step up to help those who have helped us to maintain our freedom and keep this beautiful land free.
I must admit that I have not been homeless. But I did come home from Iraq disenchanted that I could not find a job that would support my family. All I’ve managed to secure was jobs that no one else wanted and it seemed that leaving my small children behind while my husband and I served over there at the same time meant absolutely nothing. Had it not been for connections my father-in-law had, we could have very easily been in the same situation.
I had a vision last year about acquiring some property where vets of any service from any period could come and stay for as long as they needed or wanted to. I dreamed of a place where there was access to, if not on-site, to medical, dental, mental, or spiritual help, if they so chose. I dreamed that there would mentors or counselors who have been there and done that.
I, too, had the cookie cutter resume classes and netted zero. I, too, came back changed, having a hard time adjusting to the “real world” stresses and non-stresses. I can’t mentor those who have PTSD or turned to drugs and alcohol for relief. I can, however, mentor those coming home having to slip back into parenthood (not soldier pushing). I can speak to unemployment, financial struggling, struggling marriage. I can speak to the sense of loss when what you did in the military count for essentially nothing because you don’t have a college education.
I dream of an establishment run by veterans for veterans. I dream of those veterans reaching out to other veterans.
The problem is, I don’t know how or where to get started. I know I can’t do it alone. How can we help each other, or is this just a pipe dream?
35yrs later,hmm? Such a frign shame!!! time ta hang together, I,d say! Ya tail end of the Viet Shaft myself.Honorable Dis. fer what? seen alot felt alot lived alot and ya Lost,,,…ALOT. Pay attention …we all gonna need it I BELIEVE !!!!
after i moved out of the domiciliary in Lyons NJ, I stayed at my sister’s house for two weeks prior to relocating back to California however since i have had camaradery with the vets i met and spent time with at the Dom, i came back one afternoon to pick up two of my fellow veterans to have a burger,incidentally it was a holiday and the rest of the Lyons complex was closed but of course the Dom is always open, the VA police at the guard house STOPPED me at the gate and said that i have no business being there because the main VA buildings are closed, i told the VA police that i knew that and I was going to the Dom, The VA police insist that i have to leave and that since the main buildings were closed he said that,”I HAVE NO BUSINESS BEING THERE” , i told him that i was not going to the main buildings but to the Domicialiary to pick up two friends who are still living there, he then threatened to arrest me if i did not go away, I however asserted that i do have a business to be at the Dom by virture of being a veteran but the idiot VA police was so overpowered with his ego and his “BADGE” and i did not want to put up with any more of his instigation that i just choosed to leave. The bottom line is, this idiot so called law enforcement wanna be saint have no right to tell me that i have no business being there. There was another black female VA police who was understanding and was going to let me in but i gathered that since this white VA police officer is senior to her, she had no choice but to concede to him. Race is not the issue please don’ t get me wrong here but rather, the attitude of some of the VA police at Lyons NJ. This incident happened in October of 2003 at about 1400 hours. I was thinking of reporting this to the administration at Lyons but I was all set to drive back to California that i just let it go but now it still haunts me that i just wished something would be done to train some of the Lyons VA police not to forget that the reason why they have their jobs is because of the veterans at Lyons VA. This VA police officer i am pertaining to is not a veteran that is why he does not know what it is like to be in a vets shoes. I could tell by sight who the among the VA police at Lyons NJ are veterans or former military because they are more accomodating and not egotistic.
addendum, yes i became homeless after i retired in march 1999 for three years, I lived in my truck, I moved to NJ thinking that i might be able to work something out with my sister but her common law husband made us fight so I had no choice but to go to the Lyons VA, i was suffering from deep depression three years prior to my retirement and got worst after my divorce after i retired. Prior to being admitted to the Dom, I was confined at the mental ward at Lyons VA for 1 1/2 years. I was suicidal during my admission to the mental ward. I was homeless in California prior to moving to NJ, I never thought that i will become homeless, luckily for me I have my full size truck and that is where i lived. While in california i used to park at walmart at nights just to spend the night and left during the day, numerous times the oxnard police would frequently pound at my truck to wake me up and make me leave. I was not molesting any one , i was just minding my own business and just parked for the night but i guess this so called civil service law enforcement “SAINTS” are too much UP THERE that they think they are all that. So much for the land of the free!!!
Anytime any police officer refuses to let you do what you feel you have a right to do, ask for a supervisor. Also, around here you can’t be forced to leave private property (like in the Walmart case) unless they have a written letter from the property owner. Unfortunately, the local police department has made a campaign out of getting such letters. If the local police have or claim to have such a letter, you must move on or they can arrest you for trespassing or for “disobeying an officer”.
Good morning Sir, Thank you very much for anwering my entry to your website. YOur simple act of listening and replying means a lot to me, you DON’T have to agree with me, but your simple unselfish act of listening and replying back to me made me feel better than any antidepressant or thorozin or respirdal the VA has made me take. If only other government agencies and so-called government workers WOULD listen and try to relate with people who are indirectly or passively asking for help, maybe the government will be building more hospitals, clinics and schools rather than JAILS or PRISONS. I don’t know if you will agree with me but i noticed there are more jails and prisons( california alone) than schools, colleges, hospitals and long term homeless shelters. More new cops graduating from police academies than graduates of nursing , doctors and many other medical professions. Hiring more cops will not solve the crime problem, bringing back jobs exported overseas and taking care of america first before other countries is a very good first step. Solve the domestic issures first before someone elses.
Thank you very much once again
Thank youy for your site. I am a volunteer with the VA system of Los angeles who is in a group that is attempting to fund/start-up an arts and writing group for Veterans outside of and as an adjunct to traditional theraputic modes. Your commentary and stats are most informative and helpful.
There are homeless veterans from the Vietnam era still begging desperately for help , I really don’t think the VA is the agency that should be tasked to help homeless veterans considering their programs are designed to keep the veterans homeless.
I would like to thank you for your article. I am currently writing a paper on Homeless Veterans. I am a Marine Corps Veteran myself, I just got out a few months ago and Im very sadened by the numbers. It makes me want to help any way that I can, and I will find a way to help.
Check out the 2011 list of new VA Grant & Per Diem Programs (Google it)….All MANDATORY Evangelical Christianity Insanity Insane Asylums with required 12-Step Religious Cult meetings daily, church service, and slave labor in addition to the standard LIFETIME SERIOUSLY MENTALLY ILL, ADDICTED, and ALCOHOLIC DIAGNOSES in their medical records that will DESTROY THE REST OF THEIR LIVES….even when they have none of those issues IT’S AUTOMATIC!
What an ABSOLUTE DISGRACE to the veterans!
The ONLY REASON the VA is saying the homeless veteran numbers are going down is because the veterans are ACCEPTING THE FACT THEY WILL REMAIN HOMELESS…..SCREW THE VA & THEIR POVERTY PIMPS!
How HORRIFYING for the young veterans today, in their early 20’s, taking the VA BAIT to get “HELP”; they don’t realize walking in that VA door GUARANTEES a LIFETIME DIAGNOSIS in their medical record that they are INSANE, ADDICTED, and a HARD-CORE STREET-GUTTER ALCOHOLIC that will be released to EVERYONE for the rest of their lives; their lives are SCREWED!
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I definitly agree with everything your saying. I’m doing a paper in my college class about the problem with Veterans and how time has changed since WWI to now. A lot of people don’t realize that these heros are out here suffering after putting in all that work for us and are country. I really hope people take this seriously and will start helping out the military and all the veterans. Even though its tough times right now you can still find a way to help out even if its not donating money. Thanks a lot and i hope people will learn more about this and want to fix this!
Thank you!
Oldtimer,
I can offer a suggestion to a problem that I came across when trying to help my brother with his VA services. Because he had moved around a few times while getting treatment and services through the VA it came up very quickly that there is no central office where all communications and records can go through. None of their offices seem to have the ability to talk to each other or even exchange information, such as has moved and ow resides etc. My brother moved from Ohio, to Florida, and then to Michigan. He put in a change of address when he got to where he was going and knew what his address was, but it seems the office that recieved him did not send the information back to the office he was from. This was a terrible situation because he was recieving mail from every place he had been, When the mail came to me I called the office from which it came to give them his new address and they wouldn’t accept the information from me. I couldn’t understand this, all I was doing was giving them his new address so they could send his mail dirrect to him. He also tried to get the office from where he was now located to send them the information either by phone or fax or even e-mail but for some reason they were having difficulty doing this also. It took him a good six months or better to get the problem resolved. I thought this was most rediculous in this day and time. I believe that this orgaization needs to get with the 21st century and set up a system by which all their services in all the states can communicate with each other. I can see that this problem could be causing untol problems and difficulties and could even be costing much more money than is necessary ! It is stupid in my mind !
My goal this year is to secure housing for veterans with family money? is my problem. relocation goals have failed so far so I’m strugling wit my own affairs at this time
I think it is really sad that a majority of our homeless are Veterans. Why is this? When theVA is always remodeling or doing something. This just not acceptable.
Problem is our government don’t care about us. Rather us be Veterans, homeless, civilians it don’t matter. I am a Veteran myself and I feel that our government will go to any cost to make their selfs more money even if that means taking away things such as housings from people and familys that need it:( That is very sad. They will have to answer to God on judgement day. Prayers go out to all the people effected by stuff like this!!! Take care=)