We see our country’s veterans everywhere we go. We see them driving around town. We see them at our local Wal-Mart and grocery stores. Unfortunately we also see them on our local street corners and park benches. In many cases this is because of mental illnesses or alcohol/drug abuse. So what are we doing to help these ones? Although our veterans face many issues adapting back to civilian life after service, the government, through the Department of Veteran Affairs, is trying to help these issues through housing for the homeless, health care plans, schooling, as well as assisting these ones find substantial jobs. Many times, when leaving the service, veterans don’t have anywhere or anybody to come too. This can lead to a very hard transition
INTRODUCTION: How many people have a Veteran in their family or know one? If yes do you help them or is it someone else’s problem. Well many people think it’s someone else problem, but the truth is it’s our problem.
Too many veterans in the United States are living on the streets and in need of a permanent shelter. A home, a place to call their own, is a basic need for anyone. However, after so much time spent living in barracks, or in war zones, this is especially a need for a veteran. The stability of a home is an important part of adjusting to civilian life. There are few programs actually designed to facilitate veterans in finding homes. The percentage of homeless veterans is appalling. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness veterans comprise 8.6 percent of the homeless
As of 2014, there are 22.5 million veterans in the United States. According to Veteransinc.org, between 529,000 and 840,000 veterans are homeless at some time during the year. Did you know 33% of homeless males are veterans? Aside from homelessness, 70% have substance abuse problems, 45% suffer from PTSD, and there are 22 veterans who commit suicide every day. The problems don’t end there, homelessness is just one problem for our veterans. 573,000 were unemployed in 2014. There are many causes for unemployment such as PTSD, war injuries, or lack of knowledge in the work field.
A struggle for veterans was finding employment after completing the service so many veterans had problems with conforming to civilian from transitioning out the military. The unemployment rate for all U.S. veterans was 6.9 percent←;→ however, for those who had served since September 11 it rest at 10 percent. 13 percent of the veterans in the U.S. population were homeless, another 1.4 million veterans were at the endangered of homelessness. The source for vets that unfortunately discovery themselves in this position of being homeless lack of employment, poverty, housing shortages, low wages with adding drug abuse, alcohol, physical mental illness these problems can leave a veteran out in the streets (Hoffer, Elizabeth. F., Dekle, Judith. Ward., & Sheets, Carol., 2014).
Imagine one making a huge decision to leave family, friends, and a familiar lifestyle to go serve and protect their country for months or years at a time. Imagine one risking their life and putting forth their time just to come back to no home, money, or health care while have developed a mental illness. The government promises all of these benefits one may never see and they end up on the streets without a home finding ways to cope which may lead to addiction. A study shows that “There are estimated to be about 50,000 homeless veterans on any given night with about 1.4 million others at risk of becoming homeless, the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans said, citing government statistics” (Shaw). Many of America’s homeless veterans have served in World War II, the Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War, and many other wars. Nearly half of homeless veterans served during the Vietnam era. Two-thirds served their country for at least three years, and one-third were stationed in a war zone. Homeless veterans all across America come from different backgrounds and homelessness does not discriminate against gender. These veterans, including males and females, suffer from homelessness due to: being unemployable; suffering economic hardships; battling substance abuse, and lacking proper legal aid. Yes, there are plenty of resources out there to assist the homeless veterans that may help some but there are still too many veterans living on the streets.
Veterans, like anyone else, seek services such as secure housing, nutritional meals, basic physical health care, substance abuse care and aftercare, mental health counseling, personal development and empowerment. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a huge government organization that supports the veteran population by providing services in healthcare. Each year, VA’s specialized homelessness programs provide health care to almost 150,000 homeless veterans in the USA and other services to
Homelessness is a problem, but being a veteran and homeless is a bigger problem. How can we allow any of our veterans to be homeless? Veterans for years have fought to defend our nation while serving on active duty, but who’s fighting to defend their rights to be able to have walls and a roof over their head. Any given day there are homeless veterans that are sleeping under bridges, on park benches and in abandon houses. According to the article “Homeless Veterans and Their Service to America,” 47,725 veterans are homeless at any given time this estimated is based on numbers from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In this article it talked about 12,700 veterans in the year of 2010 were homeless. The homeless veterans
Almost 60% of all veterans say that the VA is doing “only fair” or a “poor” job at taking care of the problems faced by serviceman (Chandrasekaren). Current soldiers, as well as veterans, are facing problems like not be able to find a job because of a disability or not receiving compensation for an injury that occurred while in the service. Many wait months upon months just to be seen by a doctor. The men and women protecting this country deserve the best help available, and they are receiving very little or no help at all. Health care, benefits, and simply having money to survive are not problems that these individuals need to be facing after putting their lives on the line for us. Veterans need help, and our
Day in and day out we think of the 21st century as evolved, yet in this day and age there are a large number of homeless veterans that roam our streets and overcrowd our shelters. They suffer from mental illness, struggle with substance abuse, and reintegration into society. Most veterans believe that because they fought for our country, they are entitled. That may seem to be a myth, but it is definitely true. Many depend on the Department of Veterans Affairs to save the day; only to be disappointed by the lack of consideration for those who served our country, and the amount of hoops that have to be jumped in order to receive services. Veteran homelessness is a huge problem in America, and though the Department of Veterans Affairs has set programs into place, there are a series of factors that contribute to the problem with no solid solutions.
Veterans are the men and women that have spent a part of their lives sacrificing and serving our country in the various branches of the military. These are people that should be honored because their sacrifice ensures the very freedoms that we get to enjoy here in the United States. Unfortunately, veterans are confronted with a serious problem when they leave the military that hurts their well being and pursuit of happiness. Veterans are 50% more likely to become homeless than American citizens and on any given night there are around 75,000 veterans sleeping on the streets (Garofalo, 2011). The social problem is that homeless veterans are at a higher risk for suicide than those who are not homeless. To understand this social problem, one must
Veterans are everywhere throughout the United States, but just because they are everywhere, doesn’t meant they are getting the proper care. According to the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans of America, “One in three veterans return home and suffer from some sort of mental health issue.” Their mental health issues vary from post traumatic stress disorder to anxiety and depression. The switch from fighting everyday to being home is tough for the veterans and they need to receive the proper treatment so they can possibly live a life as normal as possible. The state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, started a $810,000 program to support these veterans with their issues returning home. The transition is hard, not
Veterans fought day-to-day to protect the lives of the American people. After deployment, veterans begin to struggle with going back to a normal citizen life. It becomes harder for veterans to maintain a job and keeping themselves sane. Countless of veterans compete with many negative factors to not affect veterans overall health. Thousands of veterans need assistance when having to adjust to what one would call a normal life.
Veterans Day in America should be a day that is more celebrated. Many people don’t give a second thought to those who have literally put their lives on the line to keep this country free. I feel like in order to honor those who have served and those who were lost in battle we need to keep our country educated. War is not happy, it’s not pretty; it’s painful and gruesome and we should educated our children and current generations about the risks our troops have taken for us and for the freedom of others.
Veterans day is a very important day in America. In the book it says to prove this, "We push an empty chair to the table for the missing soldiers soldiers that are not here."From this quote we receive that most soldiers die because they risked their lives for us. Jason's wife states in the video, "...a soldier risks his life for a fellow soldier." This is evidence that soldiers are brave and will do almost anything to protect another soldier or anybody else. In the video it says, "A war zone is probably one of the most chaotic things you can ever go through." This evidence tells us soldiers are brave enough to put their lives at stake to save us. American soldiers do all of this to protect the country, so that is why they should get a special
One day dedicated annually to those who have undergone pains worse than death for their country, and have served honorably and faithfully, seems paltry recompense. Every stalwart soldier that has seen war, is a hero matching the likes of Odysseus, Theseus, and Achilles. A great hero deserves great reward, therefore the absolute minimum one should give to a veteran is an acknowledgment of the great debt owed to them. Without our veterans, Americans would have long been subjugated to the whimsy of merciless, bloodthirsty foreign leaders, therefore America's veterans should be baptized in gratitude. There are no monsters in the world, only people, and our veterans were once the only thing protecting humanity from