A recent study suggests that there are two hundred thousand veterans living on the streets of America at any given time and nearly half a million were homeless at some time during 2006...this is one of the undisclosed costs I think of wars.

Most ofthem from the Vietnam War but many are joining them from the recent middle east campaigns. Since it's Veterans Day this is a sad but true story.



The VA programs go a long way in developing transitional assistance programs," he said. "The problem is that most of these programs only help the veteran for up to two years. Most veterans who successfully complete that program are not able to afford fair market rents in virtually any community in the country. Unless there are rental supports, that veteran is still at risk of being homeless after he gets out of that program."

Pentagon statistics show American soldiers are disproportionately recruited from poor, inner city, and rural areas. Many join the military primarily to get out of that environment.

"What typically happens to young adults who go into the military at 17 or 18 [is that] when they return home, the same kind of economic conditions that forced them towards the military still exist or have gotten worse," said Ricky Singh of Black Veterans for Social Justice.

Singh appears in the documentary film, "When I Came Home," which tells the story of Iraq war veteran Herold Noel, who had to live out of his jeep when he returned to New York with post traumatic stress disorder. Singh believed veterans should be given special housing dispensation to assist in their transition to civilian life.

"Every person in this country who is incarcerated is given a discharge plan, and part of that discharge plan is a housing plan," Singh said in the film. "It should happen for soldiers too. If a soldier is returning to an unacceptable housing situation, that soldier should have in his hand as part of his discharge a Section 8 (federal housing voucher)."

VA representatives did not return repeated calls for comment on this story.

Source:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/oneworld/200...C3y8dhQE 1vAI

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"it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
- Johannes Kepler

I pray for the veterns and those currently serving in our military.

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"Philosophy is a walk on a slippery rock
Religion is a smile on a dog."

Thank you for sharing that information, Art. I dont think many are aware of this problem. What are some ways we can help with this problem?

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The issues of homelessness are becoming more of a concern now for the general population and not only veterans. The recent collapse of the housing market that had been fueled by ballooning interest mortgages is I think making the problem even more urgent and apparent. So many have become more debt ridden than ever and lost whatever equity they had in their homes... We may be seeing a depression type era. Consider the Hoovervilles of the past where WWI veterans were a large part of the problem:

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/...s/hoovers.html

http://www.historymania.com/american...y/Hoovervilles

Ways of repairing the economy will take years and it's complicated of course but legislators should no longer be the tool of large corporate interests for starters.

- Art

__________________
"it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God."
- Johannes Kepler