Veterans without homes

[sheclown]

http://www.youtube.com/v/SGSE4HpTX2s?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0

[sheclown]

Jacksonville Officials See Population Of Homeless Vets Changing

By Peter Haden

Volunteers assisted nearly 300 veterans at Jacksonville's Stand Down event Saturday.
Credit Peter Haden

Brian Richmond, 25, was discharged from the United States Air Force four years ago. He's been homeless for the last three and a half.

"My mom passed away. I ran out of money and couldn't keep my house up, so had to sell it," he said. "So, I had to come out here - out to the streets."

He slept in a tent under a bridge in Jacksonville for two years. Then he got into the Sulzbacher Center - a transitional housing facility where he stays now.

Richmond was one of about 300 vets that came to the Veterans Stand Down Resource Fair Saturday at the Jacksonville Fairgrounds. They had access to medical and dental care, haircuts, clothes and help with legal issues.

It's the 15th year in a row Jacksonville has hosted the Stand Down event.

In that time, organizers have seen a transition, according to Harrison Conyers, manager of the city's Military and Veterans Services Department.

"It's a more diverse population than it used to be," said Conyers. "It used to be very focused on the Vietnam-era. Now we have a lot of Cold War and 9/11 veterans. And a lot of women vets, too."

Any trend in veteran homelessness will be seen in Florida. In 2013, officials counted more than 5,500 vets on the street in the Sunshine State-- 10 percent of all homeless vets in the nation. Only California had more.

Those numbers do not factor in "at-risk" individuals, or vets that are in shelters or staying with friends. Nearly 145,000 thousand vets use transitional housing programs each year.

"It's a big issue," said Conyers. "There are several thousand homeless vets in Jacksonville. And not all or them are in the core city. There are a lot in the rural areas of our community. We have to try to get out and go to them."

Veterans can get assistance year-round at the Military and Veterans Services Department - located on the first floor of City Hall in downtown Jacksonville  from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. No appointment is necessary.

http://news.wjct.org/post/jacksonville-officials-see-population-homeless-vets-changing

[ronchamblin]

Its encouraging to see efforts to assist the homeless vets.  The ultimate cause for their predicaments I'm sure varies considerably ... some causes being unrelated to the fact that they are vets.

Being in the military, besides being focused on serving the purposes of the military, which is that of protecting our country from foreign threats ... and recently I suppose, from threats from inside our borders ... is a time for training, for gaining skills for future employment as a civilian.

Whereas some in the military are trained for tasks having no like civilian jobs, some are fortunate to have been trained in skills for which jobs await them upon release from their service obligation.  I am a vet, ending my four years in 1964.  I was fortunate in being trained in electronics, a skill allowing me to always find work for many years after my discharge.

Unfortunately the current economy, and the overall job market, is not friendly to millions of willing workers ... vets or not.  Many former types of skills and jobs are being eliminated by offshoring, automation, and increased efficiencies in production.

The current concern with the homeless vet, although needed, is a concern also for any able bodied worker who cannot find work ... is a concern for anybody who, for whatever reason, is not able to afford to live under a roof, is not able to find work in an economy destroyed by our runaway system of unfettered capitalism, which is not, after all, sensitive to the needs of the average worker ... whether a vet or a non-vet.

Yes, the vets need help, and I am encouraged by the great success the various agencies and groups have had in giving it.  But millions of others need help too.     

[sheclown]

If you ask them, homeless veterans might tell you they only have a vague idea of what they look like, or how they got to where they are. At least that was true of the few we met in San Diego.

There are about 50,000 homeless vets in the U.S., according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans who have struggled with drug use or mental illness, unemployment or criminal records — or any number of things. The VA says it plans to end homelessness among vets by 2015.

Homeless veterans, though, may not see themselves as "homeless veterans" at all. If you passed one on the street, you might not even know it.

great photographic essay here:

http://apps.npr.org/lookatthis/posts/veterans/