When they come home, they have done their time with weapons in their hands, being shot at and doing the shooting. They did their share of screaming, running, praying and counting down the days until they could go back home to live "normal" lives again. They had combat drilled into their brains and the military way of thinking was supposed to replace their own. They returned far from "normal" to family and friends, on their own. No one was telling them what to wear, when to go to sleep, when to wake up, dictating when they could eat and what they had to eat. No one to tell them what to do from one hour to the next. Above all, they no longer had the family they inherited from the military.
Civilians have a hard time understanding how it is strangers could feel so closely connected that in such a short time a bond grew as if they had been related by blood. In a sense, they were. They watched over each other. When one of them was being threatened, others went to defend them. When one of them was wounded, others tried to help and when one of them died, they grieved as if it had happened to a blood brother. When they come home, part of them stayed there. They try to put it all behind them and get back to "normal living" but sooner or later they notice this is impossible because of what they returned from.
They return to a nation of over 300 million people but less than 30 million served in the military, even less in combat. How can they "fit in" with what they carried back home with them? No longer simple civilian, no longer soldier, yet expected to adjust with both living within them.
Families wait for the day when their veteran will get over it. Friends want them back the way they were before they left. They end up turning away after the sullen moods, angry outbursts and dismissal of the trivial issues they act as if are all so important. How can a combat veteran relate to that after what they just came home from? They can no more relate to the trivial than the civilian can relate to terror.
Active duty military, lifers, still have their military family around them. At least they are among others able to understand. Military "normal" is their way of life and they could not be made comfortable with living among others "back in the real world" of everyday living.
Therapists still make the mistake of thinking they can treat a combat veteran with the same kind of therapy they give to civilians, never understanding what makes the veteran so different, so deeply cut by their experiences that they need help beyond "normal" after abnormal events they were an active part in.
They end up homeless because of what they carried inside of them. For a start, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder left them with a long list of life changing thinking. Some feel as if they do not deserve help because they cannot forgive themselves for what they had to do any more than they expect anyone else to forgive them when they act out because of PTSD. For others, they believe they should not yield their pride enough to ask for help because they were the defenders of freedom, the protectors, the servers of their countrymen. Being trained to stand ready to face death, it is nearly impossible for these same men and women to ask for help to live.
We see the homeless veterans everyday on the streets, lining up for a simple meal and for a bed. We walk by them as we do any other homeless person. As bad as that is, we forget about them as soon as they are deployed. Few in this country know where a local homeless veteran shelter is. Most of the people right here in the Orlando area know there is a homeless veterans shelter within the grounds of the VA clinic. Over 60 homeless veterans are in a program to help them recover and be able to live "normal" lives again.
To think that veterans can be placed into civilian homeless shelters is making it worse for them simply because no one else there understands these men and women faced all they did for the sake of the country and then found themselves kicked to the curb with families turning their backs on them, friends betraying them and the military families they had separated by many miles. They are isolated in a crowded room, alone in their own communities wanting to seek out other veterans but come up against other veterans with their own agenda instead of helping a brother.
There are no perfect answers. There are no perfect solutions. What we do know is that what we have been doing has not been working and will not work until the day comes when we fully understand treating them like the rest of the population is doing more harm than good. They are not like the rest of us and never will be because their eyes have seen things we will never have to see because they went for our sake.
WITHOUT HOME - Veterans on the street grow
NORWALK
By STEVE KOBAK
Hour Staff Writer
U.S. Army veteran Samuel Lee Smalls knew that certain veterans' organizations could help him with his problems, but he died on the streets of Norwalk without ever reaching out to one of these groups, according to his sister.
Smalls, who was honorably discharged after serving four years in the U.S. Army, had a stubborn nature about him and it's hard to tell if veterans' programs would have worked, his sister, Louisa Smalls, said.
"They probably would've helped him if he would've reached out to them," she said. "We'd often mention it to him, but he never did anything about it."
The Hour's News Hound - More from the Homeless
Many former soldiers like Smalls have trouble adjusting to civilian life and wind up on the streets. Like Smalls, these veterans at first may not be accepting of help from the state and federal government, but various programs are heightening their efforts to reach out to the homeless veterans in Connecticut.
The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans estimates that anywhere between 3,000 and 4,000 veterans are currently homeless in the state.
As more soldiers come home from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the number of homeless veterans is expected to rise dramatically, and the need for outreach programs is on the rise.
The current economic environment paired with the stress and psychological trauma of combat heighten the susceptibility of veterans to homelessness, according to Laurie Harkness, the director of the Errera Center for the VA CT Healthcare system.
read more here
http://www.thehour.com/story/482839
Program helps homeless vets find housing
BY PENELOPE OVERTON REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
When she learned her unit was going to be deployed to Iraq again, Army Sgt. Shellyann Burke, a decorated nine-year veteran, decided it was time to get out.
But her sudden discharge left this young mother with no civilian life plan other than being around to raise her daughter. She had no job and no place to live. Soon the two of them were sleeping in her truck.
"I just couldn't believe what was happening to us," Burke said. "All those years of service, the impeccable military record, the skills, all of that did not seem to matter anymore. I felt angry. I felt lost and out of control."
Her 18-month descent into homelessness and despair ended after she got a federal housing voucher meant to help homeless veterans like herself find permanent housing and supportive services.According to John Sullivan, the director of the HUD-VASH program in Connecticut, Burke is an unfortunate example of how even the most talented, articulate and decorated veterans can become homeless.
After almost nine years of service, including five spent overseas and a year in Iraq, Burke has a small collection of shiny medals and an incredibly diverse resume. She has been a secretary, weapons trainer and truck driver.
But not just any truck. Burke drove a 56-wheel monster, hauling heavy military equipment like tanks in convoys down Iraqi roads lined with buried bombs. Her name for the truck that stood four times her height? Bessie.
She would like to find a job in the health care field, something hands-on and helpful and generally in demand. Burke is a certified nursing assistant, and is finishing a medical assistant program at Lincoln Tech Institute now.
To read the complete story see The Sunday Republican or our electronic edition at http://republicanamerican.ct.newsmemory.com/ .
Helping America's Homeless Veterans
Inverness, FL, February 28, 2010 (PR.com)
A much needed homeless shelter is planned for Inverness Florida. As part of the ongoing effort to meet the needs of homeless veterans in the Citrus County Area- "The Mission in Citrus" is planning a homeless veteran’s shelter to be located on Park Ave "In the old CASA shelter" in Inverness Florida. The location was chosen after an earlier meeting with State and County Officials. As it was already an operating shelter, few upgrades are required to bring it up to compliance.
The "Mission in Citrus" decided to open the facility "because of the increased number of homeless Veterans and the demand for comprehensive, specialized services for them," stated founder James Sleighter. The "Mission" helped over forty homeless Veterans in the past sixteen months. Some were just passing through Citrus County. Others were reunited with family and friends, and still others were helped with housing and job placement. The Mission found that many Veterans wander around the country in search of jobs or a place to call home. And that placing homeless Veterans into housing is extremely difficult, especially those receiving disability payments from the government.
The Mission in Citrus wants to send a powerful message that "we did not take their service for granted," and that "We are deeply grateful for the service and sacrifice by our nation’s Veterans and we must make every effort to help them as they struggle to avoid a life on the streets, and in the woods of Citrus County," said Sleighter. "This program and shelter are an opportunity to say, ‘Thank You’ and to make certain that we serve them as they once served us."
Read more: Helping America Homeless Veterans
Posted to Great Americans by NamGuardianAngel on September 10, 2009
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