Don't forget our homeless Vets...

Looks like someone liked my video A Homeless Veteran's Day.

Monday, May 26, 2008
Don't forget our homeless Vets...

"According to national VA stats, about one-third of the nation’s adult homeless population has served their country in one branch of the Armed Services. Current national population estimates suggest that about 154,000 veterans -- male and female -- are homeless on any given night, twice as many experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year.

Many other veterans are considered near homeless or at risk because of their poverty, lack of support from family and friends, and dismal living conditions in cheap hotels or in overcrowded or substandard housing, according to VA stats.

Right now, the number of homeless male and female Vietnam-era veterans is greater than the number of service persons who died during that war -- and a small number of Desert Storm veterans are also appearing in the homeless population.

Although many homeless veterans served in combat in Vietnam and suffer from post- traumatic stress disorder, epidemiologic studies do not suggest that there is a causal connection between military service, service in Vietnam, or exposure to combat and homelessness among veterans, stats show.

Family background, access to support from family and friends, and various personal characteristics -- rather than military service -- seem to be the stronger indicators of risk of homelessness, according to VA statistics.

Almost all homeless veterans are male -- about 3 percent are women -- the vast majority are single, and most come from poor, disadvantaged backgrounds, according to various federal surveys.

Homeless veterans tend to be older and more educated than homeless non-veterans. But, similar to the general population of homeless adult males, about 45 percent of homeless veterans suffer from mental illness and, with considerable overlap, slightly more than 70 percent suffer from alcohol or other drug abuse problems. Roughly 56 percent are African-American or Hispanic.
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