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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Secretary Shinseki Details Plan to End Homelessness for Veterans

Preventing veterans from becoming homeless is something that can happen and needs to happen. For many, it is not as complicated as you may think it is. Just as education is important for the future of our kids, education is important to the future of our veterans. Too many do not know what PTSD is or what causes it. Families don't know and have an impossible task trying to cope with it in their veteran when they do not know what caused the changes in them. It also leads to many other issues that are preventable.

When we do not know what PTSD is it can lead to domestic violence. When we are unaware of what is happening to the veteran in the middle of a nightmare, we make mistakes in how we wake them up. This has lead to bloody noses and black eyes because a wife tried to shake them awake or yelled at them. When they are startled awake, in those few seconds, they are not in their bed or on the couch. They are right back in Iraq, Afghanistan or Vietnam, in danger, and their wife, she is not there in their mind but the enemy is. They have no clue they are safe in their own home. This also happens with flashbacks when they are not consciously there but someplace terrifying to them.

Dealing with all that comes with PTSD, from mood swings, to angry outbursts, irrational decisions, detachment, avoidance all the way down the list to self-medicating, it makes it hard to want to be able to have them stay in the home. That is unless you know where it is all coming from, why it's happening and what you can do about it to help them heal. This is the families job.

* VA will spend $3.2 billion next year to prevent and reduce
homelessness among Veterans. That includes $2.7 billion on medical
services and more than $500 million on specific homeless programs.



* VA aggressively diagnoses and treats the unseen wounds of war
that often lead to homelessness - severe isolation, dysfunctional
behaviors, depression and substance abuse. Last week, VA and the
Defense Department cosponsored a national summit on mental health that
will help both agencies better coordinate mental health efforts.

This is what can happen when there is clear, common sense, information available to them so they overcome the stigma and the needless shame they feel. Once they understand it comes after traumatic events and not because of them, they will overcome the fear they have inside about seeking help. They think that everything they do is odd until they find out how normal most of it is when they are dealing with PTSD. Once they know they can heal and learn how to cope with what will remain, they can live lives filled with hope and yes, even happy lives. The problem is, so far, the only thing they've heard is only part of the story because most of the people telling them about it only found it in books instead of life.

It's all possible but above all, it is all something they have been waiting for.

Secretary Shinseki Details Plan to End Homelessness for Veterans

Five-Year Plan Unveiled at Homeless Summit



WASHINGTON (Nov. 3, 2009) - Today, at the "VA National Summit Ending
Homelessness Among Veterans" Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.
Shinseki unveiled the department's comprehensive plan to end
homelessness among Veterans by marshalling the resources of government,
business and the private sector.



"President Obama and I are personally committed to ending homelessness
among Veterans within the next five years," said Shinseki. "Those who
have served this nation as Veterans should never find themselves on the
streets, living without care and without hope."



Shinseki's comprehensive plan to end homelessness includes preventive
measures like discharge planning for incarcerated Veterans re-entering
society, supportive services for low-income Veterans and their families
and a national referral center to link Veterans to local service
providers. Additionally, the plan calls for expanded efforts for
education, jobs, health care and housing.



"Our plan enlarges the scope of VA's efforts to combat homelessness,"
said Shinseki. "In the past, VA focused largely on getting homeless
Veterans off the streets. Our five-year plan aims also at preventing
them from ever ending up homeless."



Other features of the plan outlined by Shinseki include:



* The new Post-9/11 GI Bill provides a powerful option for
qualified Veterans to pursue a fully funded degree program at a state
college or university. It is a major component of the fight against
Veteran homelessness.



* VA is collaborating with the Small Business Administration and
the General Services Administration to certify Veteran-owned small
businesses and service-disabled Veteran-owned small businesses for
listing on the Federal Supply Register, which enhances their visibility
and competitiveness - creating jobs for Veterans.



* VA will spend $3.2 billion next year to prevent and reduce
homelessness among Veterans. That includes $2.7 billion on medical
services and more than $500 million on specific homeless programs.



* VA aggressively diagnoses and treats the unseen wounds of war
that often lead to homelessness - severe isolation, dysfunctional
behaviors, depression and substance abuse. Last week, VA and the
Defense Department cosponsored a national summit on mental health that
will help both agencies better coordinate mental health efforts.



* VA partners with more than 600 community organizations to
provide transitional housing to 20,000 Veterans. It also works with 240
public housing authorities to provide permanent housing to homeless
Veterans and their families under a partnership with the Department of
Housing and Urban Development. The VA/HUD partnership will provide
permanent housing to more than 20,000 Veterans and their families.



Over the duration of the conference it is expected that over 1,200
homeless service providers from federal and state agencies, the business
community, and faith-based and community providers will attend and
participate in the summit.



"This is not a summit on homelessness among Veterans," added Shinseki
"It's a summit on ending homelessness among Veterans."

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