Reflection Of Self Care ( Wellness )

About 1.5 million other veterans, meanwhile, are considered at-risk of homelessness due to poverty, lack of support networks, and dismal living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing.

Too many veterans in the United States are living on the streets and in need of a permanent shelter. A home, a place to call their own, is a basic need for anyone. However, after so much time spent living in barracks, or in war zones, this is especially a need for a veteran. The stability of a home is an important part of adjusting to civilian life. There are few programs actually designed to facilitate veterans in finding homes. The percentage of homeless veterans is appalling. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness veterans comprise 8.6 percent of the homeless

A struggle for veterans was finding employment after completing the service so many veterans had problems with conforming to civilian from transitioning out the military. The unemployment rate for all U.S. veterans was 6.9 percent←;→ however, for those who had served since September 11 it rest at 10 percent. 13 percent of the veterans in the U.S. population were homeless, another 1.4 million veterans were at the endangered of homelessness. The source for vets that unfortunately discovery themselves in this position of being homeless lack of employment, poverty, housing shortages, low wages with adding drug abuse, alcohol, physical mental illness these problems can leave a veteran out in the streets (Hoffer, Elizabeth. F., Dekle, Judith. Ward., & Sheets, Carol., 2014).

In America today, there are between 2.3 and 3.5 million people experiencing homelessness, and nearly one-quarter of all homeless adults have served in the armed forces. There are about 200,000 veterans experiencing homelessness on any given night. Considering that this number is so large, there should be several federal agencies helping, but there is not. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is the only agency that works to resolve the issue of homeless veterans.

“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.

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

In the United States, there is an issue concerning homelessness. There are thousands of individuals in America do not have permanent employment nor stable housing. The homeless people live on the streets while suffering from diseases, such as PTSD, and sleep deprivation. Per statics, a high number of homeless individuals involve veterans whom have served the country in some form or fashion. The U.S Department of Veteran Affairs states that the homeless veterans’ population is mostly consisted of males, while only 5 percent is female. This survey conducted by veteran affairs shows most of them are single individuals that came from rural areas, but also suffered from mental diseases, substance/alcohol abuse and even co-occurring disorders; in

Homeless veterans population has been a problem over the decades but over the passed few years the population of homeless veterans has increased. This is a concerning problem that needs to be attended to and human services is one of the ways to seek help. Many veterans that are homeless is due to mental illnesses such post traumatic stress disorder (PSTD), substance abuse (alcoholism and addiction), and depression. Veterans that are homeless usually have one or more issue that they are facing that is causing them to be homeless. Some veterans can be facing psychiatric, physical, and medical disorders at the same time, which is very common today (Goldstein, Luther, Haas, Appelt, & Gordon, 2010, p.312). Veterans that were deployed and fought

Homelessness among our veterans is a huge problem across the nation. For the most part veterans are overrepresented in the homeless population. Nearly half of the homeless veterans are soldiers from the Vietnam war. Five percent of the homeless veteran population are between the ages of 18 and 30 and less than 23 percent are between 31 and 50. The homeless veteran population is predominantly males that are single, live in a city, and have a mental/physical disability, stated by the VA. About 57,849 of the 610,042 homeless people are veterans. African Americans and Hispanics make up about 45 percent of the homeless veteran population.

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,

According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), communities across America identified 49,933 veterans to be homeless in the year of 2014 (NAEH, 2015), This substantial amount is equivalent to 8.6 percent of the total homeless population. While there is no true measure of the number of homeless veterans, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that there are 131,000 veterans who experiences homeless on any given night in the United States. Approximately twice that many experience homelessness over the course of a year (National Coalition for the Homeless, 2009).

Senator from Hawaii, Hon. Daniel K. Akaka, who brought to our attention that, “of the Vietnam Era veterans, there are more homeless veterans today than there were casualties in the entire Vietnam War” (Looking at our homeless veterans programs: how effective are they, p.3), which, according to a 2008 update, was a reported 58,220 casualties (Vietnam War Casualties, 2012). Michael Blecker, Executive Director, Swords to Plowshares, said it best in the 2006 Committee of Veterans’ Affairs United States Senate hearing, when he stated, “we have a national obligation to prevent what happened to our other generations of war veterans” (Looking at our homeless veterans programs: how effective are they, p.4). A step in the right direction was to obtain the perspectives of the veterans themselves, as it isn’t just housing issues that are causing our veterans to become homeless. There are many problems and barriers these veterans come across that lead them to living in shelters or on the

Homelessness among veterans is a highly disregarded issue that doesn’t seem to be improving on its own. In many cases, homelessness is out of the veteran’s control, so the question that is being asked is; why so many veterans are homeless and what can everyone, including the veterans, can do about this significant and overlooked problem.

Veterans are homeless due to the many of the same reasons as the non-veteran are which include, shortage of housing, unemployment and personal hardship. However, veterans have high rates of post-traumatic stress disorders as well as sexual trauma which can create extra barriers for veterans. In fact, someone is sexually assaulted every thirty minutes in the military (Interpreting Data on Military Sexual Assault”, 2015). Since many veterans are deployed for long periods of time they have harder time trusting and controlling their impulses which can isolate them. Homelessness in veterans is an important issue right now because as troops are coming home from the Afghanistan and Iraq war, they are finding themselves “lost” due to the lack of governmental support. In the beginning of January of 2015, over 47,000 veterans were experiences homelessness on a single night (Henry, Megan, Shivy, Souase, Cohen, 2015). This is an improvement from 2010 when according to this report, there were 26,000 more veterans on the street (2015). Homeless veterans also account for 33% of homeless males in the U.S (“Homeless Veterans”,