Republicans Preying on People

Most alarming perhaps is that veterans are 11 percentage points more likely to develop life-threatening diseases and die while on the streets when compared with others. The strife suffered by veterans is evident across the board too, with the study revealing that when compared to non-vets, they on average are without homes for longer, are older and suffer from multiple illnesses, both mental and physical.

In the closing of their report, the author explicitly states, "Men and women who risked their lives defending America may be far more likely to die on its streets.”

American military veterans who have returned from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are homeless in “almost unimaginable numbers,” says Gordon Duff, senior editor at Veterans Today.

whites will be in the minority by 2040,

I'll say this once only, I hate Miller. Hate being too big a word, just that I find him or her or it, Kak of yore, distasteful.

You geniuses have blocked abortions too. Yeah! More unwanted pregnancies! More starving Children! Wooo hooo!
Land of the free.

The good news: Fewer veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are homeless than their counterparts of previous eras — about 1.97 percent in their cadre, compared with 2.63 percent in the older groups, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The bad news: Two-thirds of homeless Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in one major sample had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — a much higher rate than in earlier cohorts of homeless veterans, who have PTSD rates between 8 percent and 13 percent, according to a study in press in the journal Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research.

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In a way it's a sort of rejection of social contract, where the weak are thrown to the elements, leaving the rest free agents to compete for the wealth.

Ah, yes, the rebuffing of the Social Contract, that leaves the rich, opulent vultures to prey on the frail, the defenseless, those without power.

Holy sh!t, and I though communism was dead in the USA. But then, moment in time, you're oviously not American.

Knowledge is power

Veterans & Homelessness

Number of veterans as of Sept. 2009: approximately 23 million1
Increasing numbers of returning military personnel: according to the Mass. Dept. of Veterans’ Services, approximately 31,000 service members have returned to the Commonwealth since Sept. 11, 2001.
Between 529,000 and 840,000 veterans are homeless at some time during the year.2
On any given night, more than 300,000 veterans are living on the streets or in shelters in the U.S.
Approx. 33% of homeless males in the U.S. are veterans.2
Veterans are twice as likely as other Americans to become chronically homeless.2
Veterans represent 11% of the adult civilian population, but 26% of the homeless population, according to the Homeless Research Institute (2007).
Veterans are more at risk of becoming homeless than non-veterans
The number of homeless Vietnam-era veterans, male and female, is greater than the number of soldiers who died during the war.1
Primary causes of homelessness among veterans are:
Lack of income due to limited education and lack of transferable skills from military to civilian life (especially true of younger veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan)
Combat-related physical health issues and disabilities
Combat-related mental health issues and disabilities
Substance abuse problems that interfere with job retention
Weak social networks due to problems adjusting to civilian life
Lack of services.3/quote]

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(U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Matthew D. Leistikow)

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Statistics

Following are statistics and key facts related to the organization, its programs, and homelessness among veterans. Check here for important statistics conveying the severity of homelessness for veterans, and Veterans Inc.’s success in reducing that severity.

Veterans Inc.
Veterans & Homelessness
Employment & Training Program
Health & Wellness Program
Food & Clothing
Other Services
Women

A wealth of information and statistics is also available at these websites:

Department of Veterans Affairs – www.va.gov
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans – www.nchv.org
National Alliance to End Homelessness – www.naeh.org.

Veterans Inc.

Largest provider of services to veterans and their families in New England.
Largest provider of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs housing for veterans in New England, with more than 200 beds.
The only emergency shelter for veterans in Central Massachusetts
Largest drug- and alcohol-free shelter in Central Massachusetts.
Veterans and families helped: more than 50,000 since 1992. This includes residents in the Housing Program, veterans reached through the Outreach Program, and veterans and families serviced by the Food Bank.
In 2009, Veterans Inc. provided supportive housing services to 373 veterans (270 in the emergency shelter and 103 in transitional/permanent housing).
Veterans Inc. has one of the highest rates in the nation – 85% – for transitioning veterans out of homelessness.
Virtually all – 97% – of homeless and recently homeless veterans surveyed by Veterans Inc. in summer 2009 preferred receiving services from an organization focused on veterans’ special needs.
Year incorporated: 1990
Date doors opened: January of 1992, to nine homeless veterans
Service area: Massachusetts with imminent expansion into Vermont, Connecticut and Maine
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Veterans & Homelessness

Number of veterans as of Sept. 2009: approximately 23 million1
Increasing numbers of returning military personnel: according to the Mass. Dept. of Veterans’ Services, approximately 31,000 service members have returned to the Commonwealth since Sept. 11, 2001.
Between 529,000 and 840,000 veterans are homeless at some time during the year.2
On any given night, more than 300,000 veterans are living on the streets or in shelters in the U.S.
Approx. 33% of homeless males in the U.S. are veterans.2
Veterans are twice as likely as other Americans to become chronically homeless.2
Veterans represent 11% of the adult civilian population, but 26% of the homeless population, according to the Homeless Research Institute (2007).
Veterans are more at risk of becoming homeless than non-veterans
The number of homeless Vietnam-era veterans, male and female, is greater than the number of soldiers who died during the war.1
Primary causes of homelessness among veterans are:
Lack of income due to limited education and lack of transferable skills from military to civilian life (especially true of younger veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan)
Combat-related physical health issues and disabilities
Combat-related mental health issues and disabilities
Substance abuse problems that interfere with job retention
Weak social networks due to problems adjusting to civilian life
Lack of services.3

Employment & Training Program

Veterans retrained by Veterans Inc.: more than 1,000
80% of clients successfully complete a training program or workshop.
70% of clients increase their income while in the program.
More than 65% of veterans served, who are able to work, secure full- or part-time employment through Veterans Inc.’s job placement service.
Unemployment among male Iraq and Afghanistan veterans rose from 5% in March 2007 to 15% in March 2010, according to Labor Dept. statistics as reported in USA Today.

Health & Wellness Program

One in 10 veterans is disabled, oftentimes by injuries sustained in combat.
The number of disabled veterans is increasing; more than 20,000 veterans were wounded during service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
About 70% of homeless veterans suffer from substance abuse problems.1
45% of homeless veterans suffer from mental illness including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). 1
19% of Iraq veterans report a mental health problem, and more than 11% of Afghanistan veterans.
The incidence of PTSD and suicide rates among veterans is climbing.
62% of homeless veterans in Worcester smoke or had smoked within the past year of a recent survey, compared with 21% of the general U.S. population.
65% of clients abstain from drug and alcohol use for at least six months while in the Housing Program.

Even as the Pentagon lifts the ban on women in combat roles, returning servicewomen are facing a battlefield of a different kind: they are now the fastest growing segment of the homeless population, an often-invisible group bouncing between sofa and air mattress, overnighting in public storage lockers, living in cars and learning to park inconspicuously on the outskirts of shopping centers to avoid the violence of the streets.

While male returnees become homeless largely because of substance abuse and mental illness, experts say that female veterans face those problems and more, including the search for family housing and an even harder time finding well-paying jobs. But a common pathway to homelessness for women, researchers and psychologists said, is military sexual trauma, or M.S.T., from assaults or harassment during their service, which can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder.

Female veterans are far more likely to be single parents than men. Yet more than 60 percent of transitional housing programs receiving grants from the Department of Veterans Affairs did not accept children, or restricted their age and number, according to a 2011 report by the Government Accountability Office.

The lack of jobs for female veterans also contributes to homelessness. Jennifer Cortez, 26, who excelled as an Army sergeant, training and mentoring other soldiers, has had difficulty finding work since leaving active duty in 2011. She wakes up on an air mattress on her mother’s living room floor, beneath the 12 medals she garnered in eight years, including two tours in Iraq. Job listings at minimum wage leave her feeling bewildered. “You think, wow, really?” she said. “I served my country. So sweeping the floor is kind of hard.”

Not wanting to burden her family, she has lived briefly in her car, the only personal space she has.

Some homeless veterans marshal boot-camp survival skills, like Nancy Mitchell, of Missouri, 53, an Army veteran who spent years, off and on, living in a tent.

“That’s how we done it in basic,” she said.

Yet they retain the ability to stop government from functioning and in the early stages of implosion. In the end, it may take something major happening to them personally before they quit voting like that.

I walk the street of down town Denver or down town Boulder, and most of the homeless are not vets. You are out of your mind and I demand some facts of your claim.

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Knowledge is power

Friday, June 28, 2013

Boulder County, Colo. – More homeless veterans in Boulder County will soon have a shot at rental assistance and other crucial supports through a new federal grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

In March 2012, the Boulder County Department of Housing and Human Services (BCDHHS) was awarded $229,620 in vouchers to help house 25 homeless veterans through a program known as Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH). Each veteran in the program receives a subsidy for rent beyond 30 percent of income, and is connected with a wide range of additional services like food, healthcare, and financial assistance.

The new VASH award comes during a time of sequestration-fueled funding cuts for housing voucher programs across the country. Boulder County has worked to fill the budget gaps to help ensure existing clients are unaffected, and the additional VASH funding is welcome news.

“In order to have a true economic recovery, we have to make sure our community is as healthy as possible,” said Boulder County Commissioner Elise Jones. “We’re grateful for the opportunity to continue to help our struggling veterans stabilize their lives.”

Boulder County’s homeless population was nearly 1,800 individuals in 2012. About 10 percent of the county’s homeless are veterans.

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Yet they retain the ability to stop government from functioning and in the early stages of implosion. In the end, it may take something major happening to them personally before they quit voting like that.

A great deal of power lie in the hands of the average American voter, who as a general rule, do not participate at the same rate of voting during mid-term elections as they do at national election level for the presidency. During mid term elections, take 2010 for instance, the Republicans won almost by a landslide in governorships, congressional districts.....voters must become more active in voting and that will normalize our country which is now being seen as out of touch with reality. In these state positions the GOP will enact policies that are detrimental to the welfare of the average American.....Look how dishonest these excessively small-minded Republicans are? We must, collectively, as voters turn out during mid-term elections if we intend to overturn this mid-term trend.

Degrade? Get over yourself.
I don't receive welfare benefits, never have.