Veterans fought for us then ended up home-less

by
Chaplain Kathie

It is bad enough when an active duty soldier has to worry about losing their home while they are deployed but when it comes to the National Guards and Reservists, it is even worse.

Think about how they live. They have jobs, most of the time working for police and fire departments. They are the people we count on everyday in our own communities. They base their budgets on the pay from their jobs, even when they are the boss of their own business. When they deploy, while the law is supposed to protect their jobs while they're gone, the pay stops. They get paid by the government leaving them to live off of a financial loss.

Military veterans have a hard time finding work when they are discharged but citizen soldiers have a harder time finding work. The risk of them being redeployed hangs over their heads. Human Resources directors think of the possibility of having to have the job done by a temp or making others fill in the gaps if they are redeployed. Even if they are more qualified, someone else gets the job.

Then there is the worry about PTSD along with the false impression it makes them unstable. With PTSD there are different levels. Higher levels of PTSD make it impossible for them to work in the first place, so they are very unlikely to even look for work. Low levels of PTSD are not a problem for employers. According to the latest numbers, half of National Guards/Reservists have PTSD, but the data does not separate them by levels.

They are losing their homes and their families end up wondering what all the suffering was worth. The constant worry about making ends meet while one of them is gone along with having to worry about them overseas drains them. Just when they should be able to relax with the homecoming, they are faced with bills that cannot be paid.

Veterans' homes slip away

Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele

"Just how many veterans fall into this category isn't clear. The Department of Veterans Affairs assisted 66,000 who defaulted last year alone on VA loans. But that number did not include the tens of thousands of other veterans who faced foreclosure on FHA or conventional mortgages that many took out to survive. And of course the number does not include reservists or National Guard personnel who fell behind on payments when they were called up for multiple tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, or both."

After the Second World War, returning veterans were welcomed home to two of the most successful government initiatives ever - the FHA and VA housing programs - which put millions of them into their own homes for the first time.

Today, later generations of veterans are being confronted by much different housing policies - ones that can toss them out of homes they've bought with their life savings.

John Aguiar is a veteran of the Gulf War, a former intelligence analyst for the Army who took part in Operation Desert Storm in 1990 when U.S. forces brought Saddam Hussein to heel after he invaded Kuwait.

Aguiar and his wife, Syrena, built a house in Cape Coral, Fla., after relocating from Chicago to be nearer her parents. Using proceeds from the sale of their Chicago house, they bought a lot in a new subdivision in the Cape, a middle-class suburb across from Fort Myers in southwest Florida.

The house they built reflected their values and way of life. It was nothing fancy: a one-story Cape rancher with three bedrooms, two baths, and a two-car garage. There were no granite countertops, no Jacuzzi - just the basics, in keeping with what they could afford. "We always lived within our means," said Syrena. Nor did they see it as a stepping-stone to something larger.

"It was all we wanted, a place to raise our kids," said John. "We wanted to retire there."
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Veterans homes slip away

This country doesn't notice them.