Homelessness among military personnel is a sore thorn in United States. There are several programs aimed at alleviating this problem veterans, but as fate would have it the various efforts placed forth to help the veterans are inadequate to deal the homelessness crisis. This paper takes a deeper look at the problem of homelessness among veterans, examines the living conditions of homeless veterans and also identifies the current initiatives aimed at addressing the menace of homelessness among the veterans.
Homelessness in broad sense is a challenge faced by people who lack a place to live that can be considered as affordable, supportive, decent and most of secure. Rough sleepers are the most visible homeless people, while the vast majority of the homeless population live in shelters, hostels, squats, inns and bed and breakfast. Homelessness among veterans is a situation where after serving the nation in the war zones and returning home the military personnel, has no place to live a decent secure life. Such military personnel are said to be homeless (Rubin, 2013).
Homeless veterans live in abandoned buildings, on the streets, in written off vehicles, in encampments, shelters or even transitional housing plans. The homeless veterans do not have a permanent housing scheme. The issue of housing and homelessness is the military personnel most especially the veterans in the United States is a critical one. Statistically about 10% of homeless people in the United States are military veterans. This represents about 30 homeless veterans among every 10000 veterans. According to research veterans who face the homelessness problem have a poor employment history, may have symptoms of either mental and drug abuse and have poor social support system (Rubin, 2013).
The number of veterans in the United States as of the year 2014 is estimated to be approximately 22.5 million people. Source intimate that on any given night more 300,000 veterans are living in the streets or in public shelters in the United states. The number of homeless veterans is increasing by the day as more veterans return home from the war zones like Afghanistan and Iraq. It is estimated that around 43,000 representing about 57% of the homeless veterans are sleeping in emergency shelters or transitional dwelling conditions, 43% of the homeless veterans are sleeping on the streets, vehicles and abandoned houses (Olivet, 2010).
The problem of homelessness among military personnel begs questions like is this self-inflicted problem on the side of the veterans or is it a government betrayal of its honest and diligent service men and women in uniform. Some of the primary causes of homelessness among veterans are issues like;
Some of the veterans have limited educational capacity and as such have no sources of income after returning home. While the military does nothing to help transfer skills most especially from a military life to a civilian life and as such most veterans find themselves unemployed after their time in service. There is also the issue physical capacity, most of the homeless veterans have suffered physical and health related complications post the time in service. These limitations whether in terms of disability or physical health makes them unable to look for employment opportunities and hence cannot afford decent accommodation (Rubin 2013).
Some of the homeless veterans also are coping with challenges of addiction and mental trauma. Veterans dealing with such challenges are less likely to retain a job if the get one. The mental conditions of some of the homeless veterans is beyond and needs specialized care to manage the post war related traumas. Those who cannot live in the veteran community are as result faced with the problem of homelessness. Others have problems adjusting to civilian lives. After spending most of their time in the war zones and military training camps, most veterans find it extremely hard to fit in the society establish social rapport and networks hence result to live in isolation in dilapidated ruins and isolated places that do not offer decent living conditions (Olivet 2010).
Finally, the problem of homelessness among military personnel whether self-inflicted or a result of the government negligence should be addressed and dealt with permanently. It is a shame where men and women offer diligent patriot services to their nation only to return home and live in deplorable living conditions. The government and the department of veterans should do all in their powers to ensure that no single veteran has to live in indecent living conditions whatsoever.
References
A model of homelessness among male veterans of the Vietnam War generation: American Journal of Psychiatry: Vol 151, No 3. (2016). American Journal Of Psychiatry. Retrieved from http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/ajp.151.3.421
Olivet, J., McGraw, S., Grandin, M., & Bassuk, E. (2010). Staffing Challenges and Strategies for Organizations Serving Individuals who have Experienced Chronic Homelessness. The Journal Of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 37(2), 226-238. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11414-009-9201-3
Rubin, A., Weiss, E. L., & Coll, J. E. (2013). Handbook of military social work. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons.
