Homelessness In American Society

“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

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.

To achieve the goal of ending homelessness among veterans by 2015, the VA has numerous programs. These include providing healthcare, rehabilitation services, employment assistance, and transitional housing for veterans, and supportive services for the families of veterans to help them better understand and deal with conditions the veteran spouse may have. Additionally, the VA works with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to provide long-term housing solutions for homeless veterans (Homeless Veterans, For Homeless Veterans).

These individuals are considered ill individual’s which need health care, training, and rehabilitation. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki had previously designed a 5-year plan which could possibly end the epidemic of homeless veterans. The joint effort of work between the US Government, businesses, veteran service organizations, and private sectors they would make the solutions work. This epidemic is a nation tragedy, which means all organizations, government, and the rest of society should help move it towards

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.

According to Donovan, S and Shinseki, E.K. of the American Journal of Public Health, the suggestion to combat this issue is to reenforce intervention strategies of certain government organizations that work and to funnel federal resources to those strategies (Donovan, 2013). One of the main factors for why people are homeless is due to the mental and physical illness and substance abuse. Effective intervention strategies must be achieved in order to combat homelessness and to ensure veterans are receiving aid they deserve. An example of improving intervention would be to increase investment in effective, evidence-based programs utilizing such as the Housing First model created by the VA which helps assist veterans with access to health care, employment and other supportive services that promote long-term housing stability, reduce recidivism and improve quality of

For the past several years ending veteran homelessness has been a national priority. Ending homelessness among veterans requires many things such as, access to permanent housing, employment benefits, and health care. The first ever strategy to end veteran homelessness was announced in 2009. Since 2009, homelessness among veterans has decreased by 35%, down to around 47,725 veterans on a single night in 2015. There are a few different ways to end homelessness among our veterans. One way to address vulnerability factors before the soldiers are discharged. Helping the veterans with rental assistance and other services can also help the exit homelessness. Rapid re-housing is one thing that the VA and other programs are doing to try and help put an end to veteran homelessness. The VA is trying to expand housing, employment, and other essentials. Also, the VA has partnered with other private and public agencies to expand employment. President Obama has helped along the way with the homeless veteran crisis, “The good new is, we’ve helped get thousands of homeless Veterans off the street. [and] mad an unprecedented effort to end Veterans’ homelessness...But we’ve got...more work to do in cities and towns across America to get more Veterans into the homes they deserve”(About The Initiative - Homeless Veterans). The VA’s collaboration with other programs is ending veteran homelessness community by

There have been stories of hardship, stories of how people have overcome, how they have beaten the odds; but how many of those stories been of veterans and their struggle with homelessness? The stories that are shown of homelessness do not show the full extent of what those people go through. This is shown in Michael’s case, a veteran who resided in Los Angeles, a man who lived under a bridge for ten years. Michael had become ashamed of his appearance and situation, at first he would resist those who offered him help. Although it seems like it would be easy for one to accept the help that he was in need of, it is not easy for those who have been completely dependent on themselves for such an extended period of time. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has done a great deal to try to assist those in situations similar to Michael 's, but they do not have enough of an outreach to help all of those in need. Furthermore, it is impossible to know the exact number of veterans in need of assistance, and that is including the approximated amounts, they are not able to help all of those in need. However, in recent years the president has gotten involved to assist in the fight against veteran homelessness. The VA and other such programs that are aimed to help veterans have helped in a variety of areas including: general and specialty physical and mental care, rehabilitation programs, treatment programs, specialty clinics, community living centers, transitional housing,

The Homeless Veteran Housing Program was created to bypass group homes and work towards finding veterans safe and stable homes that they can restart their lives. The program will initially be implemented at Veteran Rehabilitation, initially the Greensboro Servant Center, in the Piedmont Triad area in North Carolina. As veteran homelessness is not only a problem in North Carolina, the program is planned to expand nationwide after implementation and

Homelessness is the lack of acute housing or any form of accommodation, which have not only affected ordinary civilians, but has become a huge problem for the men and women who put their live on the line to protect the United States. Despite the endeavor made by the government, it has failed on it social, economic, and medical reform. There should take a more aggressive approach to spot resources to veterans experiencing homelessness; else the situation will continue to grow.

Homeless people in Allegheny County, PA are a vulnerable population that needs addressed. Homeless populations consist of individuals, families and veterans who struggle with obtaining the basic needs of life, that many take for granted. A shortage of affordable housing, not enough income to meet basic needs and inefficient support services all contribute to homelessness in the communities (In Nies & In McEwen, 2015, p. 433). Services, help, and resources are available in this county, but getting this vulnerable subset of the population to seek this help, are difficult.

Worthless, and a waste of our time, that is what many people think about the homeless. Most people fail to notice certain demographics of the homeless, in particular, the veterans. Little do they know that the people who risked their lives fighting for our country make up a significant portion of the homeless population in the United States. In urban cities such as Los Angeles, California, homeless veterans are consistently ignored, leaving them to fend for themselves. There is a myriad of problems that contributes towards the number of homeless veterans in the United States, and since there are so many factors that contribute towards veteran homelessness, this essay will emphasize on the importance of assisting the homeless and on three primary common traits found among these veterans: untreated mental illnesses, lack of education, and physical disabilities; this report will also focus on homeless war veterans under the age of forty years old and who live in Los Angeles. As such, this problem begins with the consequences of our society 's apathy towards homeless.

A positive aspect of collaborative programs for veterans is that with fully developed collaborative programs in which the community, local, state, and federal level are involved the identification and accountability for all veterans experiencing homelessness is reached. This established

Do you ever stop and think how good you have it in life? Most of us have homes to live in; financially stable to pay the bills, buy things we need and want in order to survive, and have loved ones or friends to support us. For some of our Veterans, their foundation crumbles when they are done serving their military service. In our research, we wanted to propose and understand the distinct connection between military service and urban homelessness. The research question which we addressed is “Why are Veterans more at risk of becoming homeless rather than other people?”. We ponder on why veterans penetrate the homeless population at higher rates than those in the general society. What prompted our interest in the topic was the excessive number

Generally, these are veterans that fought in the Vietnam War, but with more recent wars there is a new face to veteran homelessness. A shift in demographics is occurring “as troops return from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan… homeless veterans are increasingly younger, female, and heads of households” (Veteran Homelessness). Veteran homelessness chronically affects such a broad group of people that a solution is imminent. It is no longer the time to allow America’s service men to wander the streets unsheltered. It is time to step up and finally put a stop to veteran homelessness.