Preview

Homeless Veterans Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
714 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Homeless Veterans Essay
Homeless Veterans in America

Veterans make up eleven percent of the nation’s homeless population. While that number does not seem high, it means that about fifty thousand men and women who served our country are living in the streets (Shaw). More that half of those homeless veterans have some sort of disability. There are programs in place to help veterans , but for many, these are not enough to keep in their homes. Veteran homelessness is commonly overlooked but has proven to be an extremely important issue gripping the nation today that needs to be solved.

There are many different reasons that a veteran becomes homeless. The main cause is lack of affordable housing. Also, many do not have a reliable source of income upon returning
…show more content…
Housing First is an organization through the National Alliance to End Homelessness. It provides permanent housing for homeless veterans (endhomelessness.org). Housing First works with private landlords to get housing quickly. Many regular homeless families Housing First helps are able to regain financial security quickly and require little assistance after, which saves the program money. However, the money is later used for homeless veterans. With many having no steady source of income and several physical and mental issues, many vets require more assistance and for a longer duration of time. Housing First may pay for anything from the security deposit to the month’s rent, depending on the client at hand (endhomelessness.org). Case management also takes place to help coordinate services. Housing First gets a majority of funding from government organizations such as the United States Department of Housing. Homeless veterans are a huge issue currently facing the nation. No one who has served in any form of US military deserves to spend their nights struggling to survive on the streets. While there still are about fifty thousand veterans still homeless, many organizations, such as Housing First are striving to cause that number to drop. As American become more aware of this issue looming in the United States today, many have no doubt that more will become involved and work toward a country with zero homeless

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    There should be no difference when you providing services at the MacDill AFB job fair, or any other job fair and at the Homeless Outreach Committee. You should prepare the same way, have CSTB tablecloth and flyers needed to inform on Veteran population about CSTB services. You were assigned by Business Services Director…

    • 98 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Case Study: HMIS System

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages

    At the program level our Continuum has been successful at creating opportunities to bring non-VHSP resources to our region to address homelessness. Recently, the Western CoC membership received an award of VASH project-based vouchers to assist chronically homeless veterans in accessing permanent supportive housing. Additionally, the Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission has established a tenant based rental assistance program using HOME funds to assist individuals who are homeless. This program uses the centralized intake process and is coordinated through various CoC member…

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since then, as a result of VA’s close collaboration with local and national stakeholder organizations, success in ending homelessness among Veterans is happening community by community. State and local governments across the nation Virginia, Houston, New Orleans and many others have recently announced that they have ended Veteran homelessness. Many more communities are poised make similar announcements in the near future…

    • 61 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In my research thus far I have found there are many reasons why a veteran as well as anyone becomes homeless. Mostly they are economical, mental, physical (health wise) drug and alcohol abuses are the main reasons. Research studies indicate that in the veteran population younger veterans are becoming homeless, which was a great surprise to me. The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are causing many of these issues. Another group of homeless are the older veterans and their reasons are similar to the younger veterans, most of them have been out of the military for quite sometime but because of never getting any treatment when they were discharged they had a hard time adjusting to life after the military.…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the article “From War to Welfare” the Los Angeles Times published that soldiers who return from war can either take government dependency or try find a job. Veterans come home from war and have to deal with the change of environment and their change of identity. According to Eric Greitens, founder of the nonprofit Mission Continues, “…the VA, and others, encourage them to view themselves as disabled.” This causes the veterans to see themselves as “charity cases” who need help to live. Since they can receive around $3,000 a…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I am contacting you about the injustice our veterans are facing each and everyday. When soldiers go out into battle they risk their lives. Protecting each and every one of us. When people see a veteran than went out on the battlefield, we thank them for their service. But when it comes to helping homeless veterans, people just ignore them and look at them like their not even human. So in this case I a contacting you to help solve the problem or to get more people involved in helping the homeless veterans.…

    • 93 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Housing First Initiative

    • 970 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In June of 2007, The National Coalition for the Homeless issued several fact sheets regarding the reasons why homelessness exists, the types of individuals facing homelessness, the methods by which states define and count the homeless and what efforts have been taken to cease homelessness in the United States. In the state of Utah, studies conducted by the Utah Homeless Coordinating Committee have shown that as high as .6% of the total population is homeless, at least 15,000 people annually (Flynn, 2007). Over the years, analysis of programs designed for the treatment of the condition of homelessness has shown to be ineffective as long-term solutions. A new strategy, called The Housing First Initiative, was implemented and has shown measurable…

    • 970 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Furthermore, the cause of this homelessness is because veterans have no occupation when they come back. In a passage it states, “Our government’s failure to keep its promises had – and could have once again, real and immediate impacts to our veterans that harm their health and their basic dignity.” This quote hints that without education, veterans will not get a job because most careers require a degree. Thus, governments need to stay coherent and offer scholarships to veterans and their family so their sons and daughters could get a job and veterans themselves. Without proper, education veterans won’t be able to live a successful…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Their condition is more likely to worsen over time as they may be obligated to commit suicide, as they would not want to continue with their mental issues. Tucker states in his article that, “However, the biggest problem facing veterans is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is difficult to diagnose. The VA has done little to seek out and treat veterans with the disorder. Evidence of PTSD among veterans is best highlighted by the increase in suicide rates among returning veterans. In 2006, the VA reported over seventeen suicides per 100,000 troops and over 400 suicides by soldiers and veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan” (Tucker). PTSD is a very serious mental condition that is very common but not very concentrated on, but because of that many soldiers and veterans commit suicide. The numbers are continuing to grow as more and more veterans are rejected from the VA. Veterans’ psychological conditions are very serious, but often aren’t taken into consideration as much as physical conditions are. Though veterans’ benefits aren’t exactly what they should be, they do have more benefits than some people…

    • 845 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    PTSD

    • 717 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Sternheimer, K. (2011, November 21). Homeless Vets. Retrieved November 21, 2011, from EDveryday Sociology: http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2011/11/homeless-vets.html…

    • 717 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Homelessness is a growing social injustice in the United States. The degradation that these people face every day is terrifying. It is a crisis that we too often ignore, hoping it will restore itself. That assumption delivers a widespread lack of understanding about the facts that lead to homelessness. Homelessness exists as a problem that we should acknowledge and treat.…

    • 809 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Military Veterans

    • 2094 Words
    • 9 Pages

    In the United States, homelessness among veterans is a massive epidemic that the government is currently battling. Returning from military service to no home, is a situation no one should bare. The VA has vowed to end veteran homelessness by the year 2015. To combat this issue, the government instated the Open Doors program in 2009. As of 2013 there were roughly 57,486 veterans without a home. Since 2009, the fight against homelessness has produced a massive 24 percent decrease in veteran homelessness. The open door program focuses on relocating veterans who live on the streets, in abandoned buildings…

    • 2094 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Homeless Veterans

    • 1286 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A. The Broadcast Interview Source of February 10, 2004 explains that there are currently "460,000 veterans that are forced to sleep on the nation's streets" every night. According to the previously cited National Coalition for Homeless Veterans website, estimated that number of veterans who experience homelessness during an average…

    • 1286 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Homeless: a social issue

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Finally, the most important reason why people become homeless could be due to the unavailability of affordable housing for low income people. This fact shows that people tend to become homeless out of unavoidable situations. There are people who do have work but they earn too little to pay for rent, electricity,…

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Background Knowledge: Homelessness is not new to our nation, and it has greatly increased over the past ten years. In 1987, the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act was put into law. (Burger, 68-83) However, our government has moved away from the need to address the causes of homelessness. Instead our government has focused on the individual responsibility of those who become homeless, blaming their misfortune as their own fault. (Baum, 5-9) It is this belief that has helped to increase the homelessness of our nation.…

    • 1495 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays