700,000 Homeless Veterans

STRIPES: Helping vets resume civilian lives

March 23, 2008
By Rena Fulka, Staff writer
Former airman Michael White considers himself a success story.

"I was in the Air Force for almost 21 years, and when I retired, I couldn't find a job," said White, who spent most of his military career stationed in Europe.



"I felt disassociated from civilian life, and I had trouble fitting in. I was depressed, and I wanted to talk, but I had no network. After 20 years, when you have to put the Mr. back in your name, it's not as easy as you thought it would be."

With help from the Rev. Al Garcia at New Life Oak Forest Church, White made a successful transition back to private citizen.

"Al kept me uplifted, got me through the hard times, and I got a job," said the medical administrator from Oak Forest.

Now, White wants to do the same for other returning soldiers through STRIPES, a community forum designed to help able-bodied veterans acclimate to civilian life.

"An able-bodied vet can be just as disabled as anyone who got shot, but he hides it better. He looks fine and smiles, but he's a mess," White said.

National statistics show 700,000 veterans are homeless, unemployed or a combination of both, White said.

"And the homeless ratio is growing and being filled with vets coming out of the service."

White and the Rev. Rob Schoon, of Orland Park, are laying the groundwork for the new Oak Forest ministry, which is an acronym for "Surviving trauma, receiving inner peace, enjoying salvation."

Schoon is a Marine veteran who now serves as a chaplain with the Marine Corps League. He visits veterans organizations and hospitals on a regular basis.

"Veterans are people who had such productive lives before the service," Schoon said. "They served their country honorably and did what they were supposed to do. Now, they're back, they're hurting, and someone has to help them. And most people in the civilian world don't understand the problem these guys and girls are having."

go here for the rest
http://www.southtownstar.com/lifestyles/852080,032308VETSTRIPES.article

When we get figures from the government, we need to think twice if we believe them or not. 700,000 comes from a more realistic rate because some veterans are homeless at some point during the year. This is not a new trend but it is a higher one. There are chronically homeless veterans who never find a place to live and there are some who find a place with family or friends. Their luck usually runs out if they happen to have other issues like PTSD and are not getting help. While the government would want us to believe they have suddenly reduced the number of homeless veterans below 200,000, we still have not seen the data on where the other homeless veterans went to.