Essay On Homeless Veterans

Veteran men and women of all ages have fought for our freedom, and gave us a place we can call home yet each night majority of them do not have a place to go or to call a home. “While 8% of Americans can claim veteran status, 17% of our homeless population is made up of veterans” (Veteran Homelessness). Each night they must worry about where they are going to sleep, what they are going to eat, and if they have the proper clothing for any weather that could come there way. These people chose to fight for us, and in return we are giving them nothing. A vast majority of these veterans also have the daily

In spite of having many advantages, veterans over-represent in the homeless population. The question “Why?” begs an answer. Forty years have passed since the Vietnam Conflict ended and homeless veterans became a representative image in American society. Surprisingly, it appears there are no studies on the factors contributing

The military has been instrumental in the protection and development of U.S interests around the world. From the Revolutionary War, which established the United States as a nation, through the World Wars, which set up the U.S as one of the world super powers, to its current war on terror, the military has helped and protected U.S. interests around the world. During all these wars American soldiers have proudly served their country. Because of these wars America is famous throughout the world for military power and its protection of freedom in the world. Today the U.S is an international symbol of wealth and power; it has the largest Gross Domestic Product in the world as well as the strongest military. Yet even America falls prey to a

According to the 2012 Annual Homeless Assessment Report released by the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), an estimated 62,619 veterans were homeless on any given night in 2012. The good news is that the estimate represents a 7.2 percent decline from the 2011 estimate and a 17.2 percent decline compared to the 2009 estimate ("Veterans," 2013). Although progress is being made, there is much to be done. There are veterans with the same needs as the general homeless population, but also veterans with severe physical and mental health disabilities, related to their service, that necessitate permanent housing with supportive services.

Every year the United States of America send a total number of 22.7 million men and women over the age of 17 overseas to fight for the protection of the country (Veteran Affairs, www.va.gov). That is 22.7 million sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, and other extended family members. When their service is complete many of these war veterans return home to their families, but some have no families to return too. On any given night, there are over 107 thousand veterans sleeping homeless on the streets of America; hungry, thirsty and without shelter (Veteran Affairs, www.va.gov). That is not say that the men and women who have families are safe from homelessness. A majority of the homeless veteran population comes from people who

Homeless vets often have PTSD and/or Traumatic Brain Injury(TBI). PTSD is often confused for TBI because they have some of the same symptoms. Both of these conditions can cause depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, irritability, aggression, and an increase in social isolation. Although they have many similarities TBI has some differences such as memory loss, migraines, seizures, problems with language, and trouble making easy decisions. Because TBI is a little different veterans with it need different treatment than PTSD patients. Having existing substance abuse or a mental illness is a strong predictor for someone to become homeless after being discharged from the

Imagine one making a huge decision to leave family, friends, and a familiar lifestyle to go serve and protect their country for months or years at a time. Imagine one risking their life and putting forth their time just to come back to no home, money, or health care while have developed a mental illness. The government promises all of these benefits one may never see and they end up on the streets without a home finding ways to cope which may lead to addiction. A study shows that “There are estimated to be about 50,000 homeless veterans on any given night with about 1.4 million others at risk of becoming homeless, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans said, citing government statistics” (Shaw). Many of America’s homeless veterans have served in World War II, the Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War, and many other wars. Nearly half of homeless veterans served during the Vietnam era. Two-thirds served their country for at least three years, and one-third were stationed in a war zone. Homeless veterans all across America come from different backgrounds and homelessness does not discriminate against gender. These veterans, including males and females, suffer from homelessness due to: being unemployable; suffering economic hardships; battling substance abuse, and lacking proper legal aid. Yes, there are plenty of resources out there to assist the homeless veterans that may help some but there are still too many veterans living on the streets.

This article paints a disproportionate picture regarding the Veteran population of having a significantly higher probability to be homeless than non-Veteran by exclaiming, “At one point in time in 2014, 36 % of homeless Veterans were unsheltered compared with 30 % of non-Veterans” (Byrne, Montgomery, and Fargo 2016).

1. A social problem that personally resonates with are veterans that are homeless. This is personally important to me because I am a big believer that if someone goes to protect our country that the country should welcome theses veterans back with open arms to unsure they can adjust back to normal life. To help myself better understand the situation that many homeless veterans face I did a quick google search on the topic. After looking at http://www.newsmax.com/FastFeatures/homeless-veterans-facts/2015/06/17/id/651036/ I learned that PTSD is a huge reason why many veterans end up homeless. They are not homeless because they don't care but rather because they are not able to hold a job due to this disorder.

“It’s like the path of least resistance... After a while, your self esteem gets really low and you don’t feel competitive any longer… Like you are already defeated.” (Applewhite ¶ 17). A quote from a homeless veteran shows how even though he has tried to relieve himself of the homelessness, it does not always end with the outcome that he wants, which leaves him feeling defeated, as well as thousands of others. About ⅓ of the homeless population are veterans, and they are usually the ones that need the most help (VA Expands Partnerships ¶5). The struggle that homeless veterans face everyday in the United States is a growing problem that needs to be fixed because it will continue to get worse. The healthy and productive success of

All throughout the country, veterans come back into society struggling to continue living out their lives. They have troubles adjusting back into civilian life. These former soldiers went out onto that battlefield to fight for us, so the least we can do is show our support and help make their adjustment back into civilian life as smooth as possible. I believe there are four main issues that are most important in regards to the challenges returning veterans face: homelessness, suicide attempts, a need for job training and jobs, and the fixing of the disability system. Many veterans coming back from deployment struggle with homelessness.

Although flawless counts are impossible to come by – the transient nature of homeless populations presents a major difficulty – VA estimates that 107,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. Over the course of a year, approximately twice that many

The majority of homeless veterans have service connected disabilities that are a direct result of military service; this contributes to a high risk of homelessness among veterans. Unique military skills that are non-essential in the civilian sector, combat related health issues, fractured family relationships and the lack of affordable housing are other factors. Many of them lack a social support network and/or someone to assist them with getting assistance from the government. They may be unaware of the different services they require and are

Homelessness is another problem that plagues our vets. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV) reports that homeless veterans are mainly male, with approximately nine percent being female. The majority of homeless vets are single, live in urban areas and suffer from mental illness. They also suffer from alcoholism, substance abuse issues or co-occurring disorders.

Moreover, in most communities, especially the cities, these veterans who are in their 20s and 30s are found loitering around church buildings, shopping centers, and under the bridges due to the fact that they don’t have anywhere to stay, someone’s, you see them around traffic light signers on the street with placard written on, homeless veterans Vietnam war begging for money or food. This is a big disgrace to the United States at large, and has creates a huge problem since the government has been relentless to intervene to the crisis. However, according to the National coalition for homeless Veterans,