15,000 Homeless Veterans in LA Alone!

If you ever wanted to know why I do what I do, read this! PTSD is the bulk of the homeless problem with our veterans and my husband was almost one of them.

Living with PTSD in the house is hard, even if you know what it is. It once got so bad that I wanted him to go to the homeless shelter in Boston, but they didn't have the room for him. This was before Iraq. It was before Afghanistan. It was not before I knew what PTSD was. I've been doing this since 1982 and I've been trying so hard to open the eyes of the people in this country before it was too late for too many with no place to go, but no one listened and now, just in LA alone, there are 15,000 homeless veterans!

Veterans of two wars work together
Story Highlights
Sergio Arias' Marine unit served in Iraq in 2003

He says he has post-traumatic stress disorder, became addicted to drugs

Vietnam vets mentor other former service members in New Directions programs

Number of homeless veterans of Afghanistan, Iraq is increasing
By Paul Vercammen
CNN

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- When Sergio Arias returned to civilian life in Oxnard, California, visions of war still haunted him.

The former Marine, who served a tour of duty during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, says he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Even now, it's not something I want to relive," says Arias, who left the military as a corporal in August of that year.

After his release from the service, Arias became addicted to methamphetamines and landed in jail.

Arias, 28, says he has cleaned up at New Directions, a program for addicted and homeless vets in Los Angeles.

Arias is getting by with a lot of help from newfound friends, veterans of the war in Vietnam who also were homeless, addicted and have been incarcerated.

John Keaveney started New Directions in 1992 after he came home from Vietnam and served nine years in prison on a stabbing conviction.

The 60-year old former Army infantryman says combat can erode a veteran's self worth.

New Directions says there are more than 15,000 homeless vets in Los Angeles, the largest such population in the United States. Most of the vets are from the Vietnam War era. A small but growing number of veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq are starting to hit the streets.

read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/19/homeless.vets.newdirections/index.html