Cycling to battle veteran homelessness

Guest View: Cycling to battle veteran homelessness

Juventino "J" Gomez
Posted: 07/24/2011

For many veterans in the San Gabriel Valley, the price of freedom is felt every night as these heroes pitch a tent, unfurl their sleeping mats and take up temporary residence under a freeway overpass or in a local park.
The number of men and women who return from war only to find themselves homeless, and without proper post-combat mental health care is intolerable.

Experts estimate that 11 percent of the 8,000 homeless veterans in Los Angeles County live in the San Gabriel Valley. According to a 2009 report on homelessness by the Veteran's Administration and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are at higher risk of homelessness induced by mental illness than those from earlier conflicts. Reasons include the length and number of deployments, as well as the nature of the conflict, exposure to roadside bombs and other explosions that cause traumatic brain injury. California alone has welcomed more than 30,000 veterans home - many of whom end up homeless after 18 months of being discharged.

Upon taking office, President Barack Obama committed billions of federal dollars to end the shame of veteran homelessness. The 2012 budget includes $939 million to prevent and reduce homelessness among veterans - a 17.5 percent increase from previous years. However, these funds in past years have sat unused due to bureaucracy and an infrastructure ill-equipped to handle the heavy load of veterans in need of workforce training, housing services and healthcare.

So, to rally support and encourage the distribution of long-overdue federal funding, a local group of strong-willed U.S. service members have taken matters into their own hands. Through aggressive "vet hunting," which includes scouring homeless camps, overpasses and parks for homeless veterans, this group has dedicated themselves to a 1,900-mile bicycle ride in the name of their veteran brothers and sisters. They call themselves Vet Hunters - they are homeless veterans themselves, former service members who have suffered combat disabilities, and active-duty Iraq and Afghanistan service members.

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