- . Digg It
- . Sphere It
- . E-mail This
- . Save to del.icio.us
- . Permanent Link
No Vet Should Be Homeless
Homeless advocacy group releases report on homeless vets
First, the good news: The vast majority of US veterans live comfortably in their own homes. Not so good: Nearly 350,000 vets were homeless at some point last year. Even worse, a core of some 44,000 to 66,000 chronically homeless vets needs supportive services but are not getting them. That's according to a report released last week by the National Alliance to End Homelessness called, "Vital Mission: Ending Homelessness among Veterans."
Worst of all, studies also released last week by Veterans for America and the Journal of the American Medical Association suggest that, without concerted action now, soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan may swell those ranks.
This is the first year that the NAEH has released a study focusing specifically on veterans.
"Why vets?" Do-Gooder asked Mary Cunningham, director of NAEH's Homelessness Research Institute and lead author of the report. Her conviction coming across the phone line from her office in DC, Cunningham answered, "Because no veteran should have to be homeless in this country."
Plus, with some 1.6 million US servicemen deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and counting, Cunningham points out, "It's important to look at the lessons we've learned from Viet Nam."
Is there a particularly high percentage of Viet Nam veterans among the homeless? Although Cunningham doesn't have precise figures, she says she believes that it's "pretty widely recognized" that Viet Nam vets face a significant homeless problem. The problem's exacerbated by the reduction in affordable housing and mental health services for the general population that began in the 1980s.
Certainly that perception is shared by Viet Nam vets and advocates like Jack Cunningham (no relation to Mary), whose web page "What Is a Vietnam Vet" asserts: "56% of all homeless Americans are veterans, 44% are Viet Nam Vets." (NAEH estimates that vets make up 26 percent of the nation's homeless population, and does not break out figures for Viet Nam vets in particular.)
Worst of all, studies also released last week by Veterans for America and the Journal of the American Medical Association suggest that, without concerted action now, soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan may swell those ranks.
This is the first year that the NAEH has released a study focusing specifically on veterans.
"Why vets?" Do-Gooder asked Mary Cunningham, director of NAEH's Homelessness Research Institute and lead author of the report. Her conviction coming across the phone line from her office in DC, Cunningham answered, "Because no veteran should have to be homeless in this country."
Plus, with some 1.6 million US servicemen deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and counting, Cunningham points out, "It's important to look at the lessons we've learned from Viet Nam."
Is there a particularly high percentage of Viet Nam veterans among the homeless? Although Cunningham doesn't have precise figures, she says she believes that it's "pretty widely recognized" that Viet Nam vets face a significant homeless problem. The problem's exacerbated by the reduction in affordable housing and mental health services for the general population that began in the 1980s.
Certainly that perception is shared by Viet Nam vets and advocates like Jack Cunningham (no relation to Mary), whose web page "What Is a Vietnam Vet" asserts: "56% of all homeless Americans are veterans, 44% are Viet Nam Vets." (NAEH estimates that vets make up 26 percent of the nation's homeless population, and does not break out figures for Viet Nam vets in particular.)
What People Are Saying…
Leave a Comment
11:04 EST, 16.Nov.07
10:51 EST, 16.Nov.07
03:27 EST, 16.Nov.07