The number of homeless female veterans outpaces help

Invisible women: The number of homeless female veterans outpaces help
Staff photo by Cindy Burnham

Mariel Marrero, who spent five years in the Army, is among a growing number of female veterans who struggle with homelessness.

By Drew Brooks
Staff writer

For a week in July, Mariel Marrero and her two children visited the Cumberland County Headquarters Library every day.

Between 7:45 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Marrero, 30, and her children - ages 10 and 12 - sought out the library not for its books, but for its air conditioning. Their only alternative, Marrero said, was to stay in parks in nearly 100-degree heat.

At night, Marrero and her children slept at the Salvation Army shelter on Alexander Street.

"You always hear about the men," Marrero said of homeless veterans. "But we're out there, too. People just don't see us."

Marrero is one of about 90 female veterans who are homeless in the Fayetteville area, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

She's also part of a growing trend.
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