Essay On Homeless Veterans

Those who are veterans are those who fought in the wars and those who leaded the troops. Today we honor those who are no longer with us and those who are. We honor them because they fought and saved us from rivalries that were careless about us but our veterans stood up for us until we were safe. If you read history books about the american war you might’ve found that some men were under a lot of stress while training. But the thing that makes them special is they were the brave ones, some men didn’t meet the standards required but some men started training lifting those weights to meet those standards and try again. There are wise and caring people in the world and some times you may have to look for them because they are out

FACTS: VA estimates that 107,000 veterans are homeless on any given night, and over the course of a year, approximately twice that many experience homelessness. Only eight percent of the general population can claim veteran status, but nearly one-fifth of the homeless population are veterans.

State and federal legislators both need to make it a priority to be involved in the welfare of veterans. The issues will never get better unless the individuals in charge of the laws, regulations, funding and departments step up to the challenges. That alone will not even be enough. These issues need to be addressed on a state level as well. Housing projects and professional training need to be made more widely available. Understanding the importance of both changes made at a state and federal level for the living conditions and health status of American veterans is the first step. The next step is that it must be acted on and improved. The United States of America owes that much to its

American veterans are amazing people because they have been through more than what most people experience, but some are blessed enough to still be here today to tell their story. American veterans to me are brave men and women who risk their lives so we can improve our’s the slightest bit. They make the world a better place everyday.

As of 2014, there are 22.5 million veterans in the United States. According to Veteransinc.org, between 529,000 and 840,000 veterans are homeless at some time during the year. Did you know 33% of homeless males are veterans? Aside from homelessness, 70% have substance abuse problems, 45% suffer from PTSD, and there are 22 veterans who commit suicide every day. The problems don’t end there, homelessness is just one problem for our veterans. 573,000 were unemployed in 2014. There are many causes for unemployment such as PTSD, war injuries, or lack of knowledge in the work field.

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 the US homeless population, veterans are slightly overrepresented (Tsai & Rosenheck, 2015). To be exact, veterans constitute 12.3% of all homeless adults (Tsai & Rosenheck, 2015). A study by Harpaz-Rotem, Rosenheck, & Desai (2011) also affirms that roughly 30% are homeless men and 4% are homeless women. By definition, homelessness is not having “a regular or fixed night-time residence,” and homeless people tend to move frequently, stay in homeless shelters, and sleep in places such as vehicles and abandoned buildings (Tsai & Rosenheck, 2015, p. 1). With this in mind, it is important to note that homeless veterans are mostly older males who some form of health insurance coverage than other homeless adults, better educated, and have been married or married (Tsai & Rosenheck, 2015). One would think that these advantages should put veterans at lower risk for homelessness, but this was not the case (Tsai & Rosenheck, 2015). Additionally, a study done by van den Berk-Clark & McGuire (2013) portrays that elderly civilians were less likely to become homeless in comparison to elderly veterans (aged from 51 to 61 years (39%) and 62 years or older (9%)) who were twice as likely to become homeless. Risk factors that can potentially explain homelessness among elderly veterans include life events (e.g., death of spouse or marital breakdown, exiting employment, and evictions), mental illness or medical conditions, minority status, and higher levels of disruptive events during childhood

According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, in January of 2014 there were 49,933 homeless veterans across the United States. In 2013 the United States Department of Veterans Affairs released a study saying that 22 veterans die of suicide every day, or one veteran kills himself every 65 minutes due to either post traumatic stress disorder, or just because of guilt. Both of these statistics say that the way we treat veterans is clearly not good enough. Veterans do not receive the praise and the respect that they deserve because there are too many homeless veterans, veterans are killing themselves at a rate that is too rapid, and people just assume that because of their previous uniform they have killed and slaughtered babies, which

According to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs, there are more than 1,500 locations to receive treatment and care across the country, which divides up to approximately 30 locations per state. The lack of locations may limit some veterans from receiving the care they desire. “Veterans who utilize VA services have worse health status that the general population” (Nelson, Taylor, Lurie, Escarce, McFarland, & Finn, 2011). This implies that the services offered are not sufficient enough to meet the needs of veterans. According to Jack Downing, President and CEO of Soldier On, “Seventy percent of veterans drive twenty-five miles or more to a VA facility.” These facts prove that we need more access for veterans so that they can get the

I have maybe four people (that I know of) that are veterans that I’m related to. All of my great grand fathers served. I have a friend that is a graduate from VMI(Virginia Military Institute).

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

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.

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

Contrary to the perception that our nation’s veterans are well supported in fact many go without the services they require of which they are