Study: Veterans Make Up 1 In 4 Homeless

Nearly 200,000 Per Night In 2005, And Surge Expected From Iraq, Afghanistan Wars

(AP)  Lonnie Bowen Jr. was once a social worker, but for 17 years the Vietnam war veteran has slept on the streets off and on as he's battled substance abuse and mental health problems.

“It's been a hard struggle,” said Bowen, 62, as he rolled a cigarette outside a homeless processing center in downtown Philadelphia, where he planned to seek help for his drug and alcohol problem, as he has before.

Every night, hundreds of thousands of veterans like Bowen are without a home.

Veterans make up one in four homeless people in the United States, though they are only 11 percent of the general adult population, according to a report to be released Thursday by the Alliance to End Homelessness, a public education nonprofit.

And homelessness is not just a problem among middle-age and elderly veterans. Younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are trickling into shelters and soup kitchens seeking services, treatment or help with finding a job.

The Veterans Affairs Department has identified 1,500 homeless veterans from the current wars and says 400 of them have participated in its programs specifically targeting homelessness.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness, a public education nonprofit, based the findings of its report on numbers from Veterans Affairs and the Census Bureau. Data from 2005 estimated that 194,254 homeless people out of 744,313 on any given night were veterans.

In comparison, the VA says that 20 years ago, the estimated number of veterans who were homeless on any given night was 250,000.

Some advocates say such an early presence of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan at shelters does not bode well for the future. It took roughly a decade for the lives of Vietnam veterans to unravel to the point that they started showing up among the homeless. Advocates worry that intense and repeated deployments leave newer veterans particularly vulnerable.

“We're going to be having a tsunami of them eventually because the mental health toll from this war is enormous,” said Daniel Tooth, director of veterans affairs for Lancaster County, Pa.

While services for homeless veterans have improved in the past 20 years, advocates say more financial resources still are needed. With the spotlight on the plight of Iraq veterans, they hope more will be done to prevent homelessness and provide affordable housing to the younger veterans while there's a window of opportunity.

“When the Vietnam War ended, that was part of the problem. The war was over, it was off TV, nobody wanted to hear about it,” said John Keaveney, a Vietnam veteran and a founder of New Directions in Los Angeles, which gives veterans help with substance abuse, job training and shelter.

“I think they'll be forgotten,” Keaveney said of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. “People get tired of it. It's not glitzy that these are young, honorable, patriotic Americans. They'll just be veterans, and that happens after every war.”

Keaveney said it's difficult for his group to persuade some homeless Iraq veterans to stay for treatment and help because they don't relate to the older veterans. Those who stayed have had success - one is now a stock broker and another is applying to be a police officer, he said.

“They see guys that are their father's age and they don't understand, they don't know, that in a couple of years they'll be looking like them,” he said.

After being discharged from the military, Jason Kelley, 23, of Tomahawk, Wis., who served in Iraq with the Wisconsin National Guard, took a bus to Los Angeles looking for better job prospects and a new life.

Kelley said he couldn't find a job because he didn't have an apartment, and he couldn't get an apartment because he didn't have a job. He stayed in a $300-a-week motel until his money ran out, then moved into a shelter run by the group U.S. VETS in Inglewood, Calif. He's since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, he said.

“The only training I have is infantry training and there's not really a need for that in the civilian world,” Kelley said in a phone interview. He has enrolled in college and hopes to move out of the shelter soon.

The Iraq vets seeking help with homelessness are more likely to be women, less likely to have substance abuse problems, but more likely to have mental illness - mostly related to post-traumatic stress, said Pete Dougherty, director of homeless veterans programs at the VA.

[forthepeopl1]

SO GO AHEAD AMERICANS BE WEAK, THIS IS COMMING....IT IS TIME FOR A REVOLUTION,TIME TO STOP BUSH/CHENEY


The violence broke out after an estimated 80,000 ant-iBUSH demonstrators - led by university students - marched peacefully to the Supreme Court to protest constitutional changes that would greatly expand BUSH/CHENEY power if voters agree to the changes in December. Unrest, if it continues, could mar a Dec. 2 referendum on the controversial reforms
The amendments being protested would abolish presidential term limits, give the president control over the Central Bank and let him create new provinces governed by handpicked officials.
The protesters demand the referendum be suspended, saying the amendments would weaken civil liberties and give BUSH AND CHENEY unprecedented power to declare states of emergency.
``Don''''''''t allow AMERICA to go down a path that nobody wants to cross , during the march to the Supreme Court.
BUSH, who was first elected in2000, denies the reforms threaten freedom. He says they would instead move AMERICA toward what he calls ``21st century socialism.''''''''''''''''
In televised comments prior to the unrest, BUSH urged ALL AMERICANS to turn out en masse to vote for the reforms. In reference to the opposition, he said: ``Don''''''''t go crazy.''''''''''''''''

SO GO AHEAD AND VOTE HER IN AMERICA, AND SEE WHAT WILL HAPPEN. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT...

WITH 250 MILLION AMERICANS THEY CANT KILL US ALL..TIME FOR A REVOLUTION.

[Con Mohrat]

The Repugnant Congress was having a field day doing what Bush wanted these previous few years. He said "It''s the people''s money and they should get it back". So wih the hundreds of billions spent in tax cuts to the wealthy, alas, there was no money to fix Vet facilities like the rat-infested Walter Reed and those in all the States or pay for those Hitler-style invasions and occupations of muslim countries with Bush''s Crusades. In less han a year, an election will show if the voters think they did right.

[missingamerica]

It is difficult to spend years doing "whatever it takes" to get the job done and "the right thing" no matter what it costs you and then have to transition into American Business, where the primary rule seems to be "if it enriches you or furthers your career, it is acceptable behavior".

Very difficult.

[johnny343sc]

No one ever seems to care about the soldier that fights the nations'' wars- especially AFTER they fought in the war that is now part of their life.

The tale is as old as war itself: If he wins, he is celebrated... if he loses, he is shamed. Even the perception of one or the other can determine if he is lauded when he gets home or mocked.

Veterans benefits are the first to go in a tight budget- especially in a society that continues for a majority of its populace not to serve in the military. If a veteran is physically infirmed or debilitated somehow, they get care if they are lucky, but for those that are mentally/socially injured when they try to fit back into society, help might not come at all.

I don''t think this vicious cycle will change anytime soon.

Think about that while you drink your latte this morning in the warmth and comfort of your office or home today.

Yes, I''m an Iraq War Vet. Don''t call it "Operation Iraqi Freedom" because I fought for the freedom of the American people I so love and believe in. I''d do it again tomorrow, if necessary.

;)

[extremophil]

So 75% of all homeless AREN''T Veterans. Great news!

[mcvet]

I have had soldiers that have had a good life where their parents own businesses, and had rich life styles they chose to serve cause of patriotism.

Give time to your country!

Then they got out and went about their business, this is a volunteer Army not a forced Army think about that you t u r d s!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by jraf766 at 06:03 AM : Nov 08, 2007
+ report abuse

Not only are you disgusting as an American you''re just as ignorant. What difference does it make if they were forced by the draft or by "Free Trade" to "Join" the Military? We OWE them our freedom and everything else. NO ONE can tell you what Combat does to a person and not everyone has a rich pappy to get them into a nice cushy job stateside. Take your attitude and opinions and shove them where your head is now. Sieg Heil Bush!!

[brianbwb-2009]

Then they got out and went about their business, this is a volunteer Army not a forced Army think about that you t u r d s!
Posted by jraf766

Wrong son, remember Vietnam? Those weren''t volunteers, they were drafted.

The sons and daughters of the elite who served also went back to where they came from, so we are not even discussing them, there might be a paltry few who are homeless, but this article is about the real deal, homeless vets, not your dream version of it, and Iraq was not the first or the only unjust use of our military that threw away the soldiers after they gave their service.

The name calling is further proof of your inadequate powers of reasoning, it would be safe to assume you probably support Bush.

[jraf766]

The homeless have problems, there is several reasons they can be homeless, some soldiers were adopted, some divorced where that *** a s s wife took everything, some where the wife left them in debt, some where they killed someone and can''t get over it, some who saw their body in pieces, some who were shot at everyday, and the list goes on!

You will never know the truth unless you been there!

an Iraq Veteran

[jraf766]

I have had soldiers that have had a good life where their parents own businesses, and had rich life styles they chose to serve cause of patriotism.

Give time to your country!

Then they got out and went about their business, this is a volunteer Army not a forced Army think about that you t u r d s!

[jraf766]

Please dont talk unless you have served, if you symphathize then talk, but no negative s h i t.

You dont have a clue what war does to your mind!

Just wait till you are forced to go, then talk your
s h i t after you been selected from the selective service.

[jraf766]

The reason behind homeless vets is that we sleep anywhere in any type of weather, and for you guys that dont believe, you are enjoying the very freedom that we provided for you in your nice house with heat or air conditioning. They are sleeping on the streets cause they fought for the United States and it is definately their soil where ever they choose!

The wars goes back 200 plus years, think about that for a change.

You a s s h o l e.

Not only that not all of them are from the poor they are from the rich too s h i t b a g.

an Iraq Veteran

[brianbwb-2009]

Ever since Vietnam, the phrase "Support the troops" has never been more than "support my illegal agenda". Anyone who brings the light of truth against an American president''s illegal military orders is accused of not "supporting the troops".

Before they became troops, they were usually underprivileged teens, with no other way out of their poverty, regarded by the elite and their sycophants as no m,ore than human cannon fodder. After their term is served, they go back to where they were before they left.

If anyone really cared about the troops, they wouldn''t be in harm''s way for no reason other than the greed of those who sent them into it, and their service would be rewarded by lifelong support for the basic necessities of life, food, clothing, and shelter.

[gramto7]

It is a conspiracy of international proportions among the medical personnel who like fiends live off the misery of Vets. We should imprison those focusing on PTS as a rationale to undermine Vet lives.

Posted by glaswolf

WRONG!! It is not the medical personnel that are abusing/using the veterans. Medical personnel are trying to help them. Unless the person applied for a job at the hospital/clinic/etc. and was turned down because of PTSD, how can you say the medical personnel are the problem? It sounds to me like it is the business world which is causing the problem. That and the idiots that decide that, once a veteran has come home from whatever hellhole he/she has been assigned to, they no longer are deserving of our attention or money. Those idiots could not be further from the truth!!

[ramos937]

"The Veterans Affairs Department has identified 1,500 homeless veterans from the current wars and says 400 of them have participated in its programs specifically targeting homelessness."

First, the plain fact is that the employees at VA are as upset and angry about this as anybody else. But, by now they are just numb and trying to do the best they can with what they have. Second, the VA has never ever been funded with adequate resources to do its job and never more so than in the past 6 years. Rhetoric is fine but only when backed up by action. The actions have never matched the rhetoric.

[glaswolf]

People forget that good jobs and positions are always scarce and anyone can assume vets have PTS as a procedure to justify not hiring vets and hiring their friends, other union members, etc... After the Vietnam War, we were sabotaged by that diagnosis and it was used to betray us. It is not possible to have such high percentages of illness. If Vets don''t go along with the diagnosis, they don''t get aid. If they do, they get betrayed for the rest of their lives. The theory is the Vet can go off on anyone anytime and are therefore dangerous. Also, Vets don''t necessarily accept intimidation, so it behooves criminal enterprises not to hire Vets less their crime be exposed. PTS was the worse curse the civilians ever conjured up to attack the Vets as a group. PTS should be outlawed for the damage and lives it has destroyed. Tell me any infantry personnel can''t work in production, like the kid said, he spent $300 per week until his money ran out. It is a conspiracy of international proportions among the medical personnel who like fiends live off the misery of Vets. We should imprison those focusing on PTS as a rationale to undermine Vet lives.

[alphaa10-2009]

Bush never thought Americans saw the disconnect between his slogans about supporting the troops and his own policy at Walter Reed-- not to mention vets in the steets and his cuts in the VA budget.

[andor3]

If you are proud of the USA, this should make you ashamed and angry. I am and it does that for me. What kind of people or country sends a person to fight and then ignores what the fight has done to them when they return?

[redbarron73]

These people are usually young and either looking for something to get away from inner city life, or naive and patriotic. Either way, vulnerable. Then they are shown a glamorized image of military life, coupled with a lot of bullcrap promises, only to be used to help make $$$ for the evil empire by either paying the ultimate price in battle, or just used up and discarded......"The FEW the PROUD, the PAWNS OF WAR"....poor souls.

[feelfree1]

Related:

"Veteran Suicides Highest Yet Recorded"

www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/01/terror/printable3439629.shtml

Remember- GODFUXBUSH!!! That is for certain!!!

[kansas1946]

Some advocates say such an early presence of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan at shelters does not bode well for the future. It took roughly a decade for the lives of Vietnam veterans to unravel to the point that they started showing up among the homeless. Advocates worry that intense and repeated deployments leave newer veterans particularly vulnerable.
***********************
Repeated deployements, deployments that are too long, lack of equipment, lack of planning, and atrocity after atrocity, living in the middle of a civil war of Bush''s making.
Thanks President Bush for supporting our troops.

"Mission Accomplished"