Sonny Lovino, Vietnam Veteran Dies from neglect

Vet Died After VA Center, Jail Refused him
By Becky Ogann
Story Created: Nov 20, 2007
Story Updated: Nov 20, 2007
IOWA CITY (AP) - A homeless Vietnam veteran whose body was found beneath an Iowa City bridge had been turned away just days before from a Veterans Affairs center and the Johnson County jail.That's according to University of Iowa police reports obtained by the Cedar Rapids Gazette.
Sonny Lovino was found dead earlier this month under a bridge. An autopsy showed he died of hypothermia. His body was found two days after Lovino had repeated run-ins with police.
Advocates for the mentally ill say it's hard to help when people refuse treatment.
http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/11640976.html

Looks like the help Iowa offers is not as advertised. Taking into consideration the final sentence of the report "Advocates for the mentally ill say it's hard to help when people refuse treatment." there is no need to wonder why they added that part in. The truth is, Sonny was turned away from the police and the VA. He sought help. He reached out hoping someone would give a damn if he lived or died. He was rejected.

This is what Iowa says they do for the homeless veterans.

Homeless: Nearly one-quarter of all homeless adults are veterans, and many more veterans who live in poverty are at risk of becoming homeless. VA is the only federal agency that provides substantial hands-on assistance directly to the homeless. It has the largest network of homeless assistance programs in the country. More than 15,000 residential rehabilitative, transitional and permanent beds are available for homeless veterans throughout the country.

VA aggressively reaches out to veterans on the street, conducts clinical assessments, offers needed medical treatment, and provides long-term shelters and job training.

More than $265 million is dedicated to specialized homeless programs to assist homeless veterans, including grants and per diem payments to more than 400 public and non-profit groups.

Iowa VA medical facilities seek to break the cycle of homelessness by forming a homeless coordinating group to identify the needs of homeless veterans and to develop programs to meet those needs. This team of professionals has identified four basic needs of the homeless: housing, transportation, dental care and eye care. The team is focused on meeting these basic needs and increasing housing to improve the quality of life. Regional coverage for homeless outreach is based in Des Moines, Iowa City and the Quad Cities area. Domiciliary care is available in Des Moines; compensated work therapy is available for homeless veterans in Des Moines and Knoxville.

http://www1.va.gov/opa/fact/statesum/iass.asp

These are the totals from last year. There are more now. You also need to keep in mind that there are more they simply do not know about.

State
Funded Beds
Homeless Veterans
AK
0
600

AL
42
824

AR
40
850

AZ
199
3,970

CA
1,875
49,724

CO
102
1,203

CT
103
5,000

DC
43
2,500

DE
15
550

FL
430
18,910

GA
165
3,297

HI
118
800

IA
56
547

ID
10
500

IL
136
2,197

IN
108
1,200

KS
47
601

KY
115
425

LA
150
9,950

MA
378
1,700

MD
241
3,300

ME
0
100

MI
139
3,513

MN
23
523

MO
82
3,325

MS
60
1,579

MT
17
232

NC
182
1,659

ND
0
1,000

NE
12
770

NH
36
257

NJ
142
6,500

NM
30
860

NV
201
4,715

NY
274
21,147

OH
261
1,710

OK
27
500

OR
159
5,891

PA
332
2,784

RI
23
175

SC
110
1,375

SD
42
170

TN
241
2,844

TX
233
15,967

UT
145
530

VA
86
870

VT
10
30

WA
167
6,800

WI
209
828

WV
41
347

WY
31
98

PR
12
80

TOTAL
7,700
195,827

http://www.nchv.org/page.cfm?id=81

This is a report from the UK on New York on people going hungry. Just regular people who cannot afford to eat.

New York hunger levels 'rising'
Over 1.3 million people, one in six New Yorkers, cannot afford enough food, with queues at soup kitchens getting longer, anti-poverty groups say.
The New York City Coalition Against Hunger says the number of people who use food pantries and soup kitchens in the city increased by 20% in 2007.
Some of the food distribution points are struggling to meet demand.
The coalition blames the situation mainly on increased poverty as well as government cutbacks in food aid.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7106726.stm

What has this nation become? What are we doing? Why do we allow Congress to spend over a trillion dollars to wage wars while veterans come home only to end up homeless? Why do we allow them to give tax breaks to the rich people while regular people go hungry? Why do we allow Congress to constantly claim they care about the poor and needy in this nation, in their own states while ignoring the fact most of them do not tell the truth?

This is Thanksgiving day. Traditionally a day to give thanks for the bounty of this nation. As you gather with your family today, feasting and appreciating all you have, maybe you will appreciate it more finally acknowledging many in this country have nothing. While they too are Americans, this land of hope and plenty offers them plenty of misery. The government fails them, churches and charities fail them, the people in this nation fail them.

My heart breaks for all the forgotten in this nation but above all it breaks for the veterans. Veterans like Sonny who came home from where he was sent, fed, clothed, sheltered while he served, only to survive, return home wounded and die under a bridge because he was turned away on a cold night, not once, but twice.