What does this study say to those who consider the homeless to be lazy ingrates who deserve their lot in life? America should be doubly ashamed for allowing so much chronic homelessness to exist in the richest country on earth.
We do not indeed "support our troops." Whether it's at Walter Reed or on the cold pavement of D.C., we forget our troops when they're not useful to us anymore. Shame on us! Study: Many of homeless are vetsNovember 8, 2007 | CNN
More than 25 percent of the homeless population in the United States are war veterans, although they represent only 11 percent of the civilian adult population , according to a report to be released Thursday.
On any given night last year, nearly 196,000 veterans slept on the street, in a shelter or in transitional housing, the study by the Homelessness Research Institute found.
"Veterans make up a disproportionate share of homeless people," the report said.
"This is true despite the fact that veterans are better educated, more likely to be employed and have a lower poverty rate than the general population."
The National Alliance to End Homelessness, which includes the Homelessness Research Institute as its research and education arm, planned a press conference in the morning to discuss the study's findings.
"These findings highlight the need to provide veterans with the proper housing and supportive services to prevent homelessness from occurring in the first place," said Nan Roman, the organization's president. "If we can do that, then we can greatly reduce the number of homeless veterans in general."
The states with the highest number of homeless veterans include Louisiana, California and Missouri, according to the research. Washington, D.C., also had a high rate.
About 44,000 to 64,000 veterans are classified as "chronically homeless" -- homeless for long periods or repeatedly.
Other veterans -- nearly 468,000 -- are experiencing "severe housing cost burden," or paying more than half their income for housing, thereby putting them at a high risk for homelessness.
The rates of the burden of housing costs were highest in Rhode Island, California, Nevada and Hawaii, but Washington, D.C., had the highest rate, according to the organization.
In order to reduce chronic homelessness among veterans by half, the report concludes housing coupled with supportive services should be increased by 25,000 units, and the number of housing vouchers for veterans should be increased by 20,000.
Some veterans, like Jason Kelley find themselves in a catch-22, not able to find a job because of the lack of an apartment, and not being able to get an apartment because of not having a job, The Associated Press reported.
"The only training I have is infantry training and there's not really a need for that in the civilian world," AP quoted Kelley as saying in a phone interview. In addition, he's been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, he said, according to AP. Kelley served in Iraq with the Wisconsin National Guard.
A new Gallup poll released by Fannie Mae showed that
nearly a quarter of veterans, or 24 percent, report having been concerned they may not have a place to live. Eighty-six percent of poll respondents believe homelessness among veterans is either staying at the same level or increasing.
In addition, 61 percent of poll respondents believe veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts are at least as likely to become homeless as veterans of previous wars.
The poll of 1,005 veterans was conducted September 4-October 17 and has a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
At the National Alliance to End Homelessness event, Fannie Mae will announce a $200,000 grant to the Common Ground organization that will enable the construction of more permanent housing units for veterans.
"Our veterans have served America, and America must serve them," said Daniel Mudd, president and CEO of Fannie Mae, in a statement.
Common Ground is a nonprofit developer of housing and other solutions to prevent and end homelessness, according to the Fannie Mae statement.
