Homeless Veterans

           Homelessness is a serious issue. The fact that homelessness is affecting our Veteran communities makes this an even bigger problem. When the people who put their lives on the line to serve our country come back to the United States, finding a place to lay their head should be the least of their worries. Unfortunately, this is the reality, affecting more than 60,000 veterans nationally according to a January 2012 national census. This number has the potential of getting even higher since this time because of the recent influx of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

            After seeing this as a major issue, Governor Jerry Brown of California recently signed a number of bills to help combat homelessness among these veterans. California makes up a quarter of the homeless veteran population in our country. In fact, there are over 1200 homeless veterans in the cities of Santa Clara and San Jose alone. Imagine how many more are in this country, let alone the state itself. With this in mind, voters in California will head to the polls in June to vote on legislation that will allow the state to use $600 million of current military bond funds for multifamily housing. This bill, along with about a dozen others will go toward helping homeless veterans find housing.

            My main reason for even exploring this topic is because I recently came in direct contact with some homeless individuals. Locally here in Salisbury, a homeless shelter called Halo operates completely off of donations to provide housing for homeless people. Although it was not disclosed to me if some of them were veterans or not, due to confidentiality, the issue as a whole still stuck in my head. The shelter looks like an old strip mall from the outside, but inside the remodeled space are over one-hundred beds for women and children to stay and a spotless cafeteria and pantry to provide food for any homeless person. Their main goal is to provide a service to these people all while spreading the message of Christ.

            And as important as giving a service to anyone while providing the message of Christ is, many people still give a stigma to homelessness especially in veterans. Not all homeless veterans look like the same middle-aged white male who is single. Some veteran you may come in contact with are homeless and you may not even know it. The video below profiles about three homeless veterans in the California area who have completely different stories. It was made by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs in an effort to attract an interest from the public for help. After seeing this video, will you make a contribution to help a growing issue? Do you think homelessness is really as big as an issue as reports are saying? Take a look at the video below.