A New Generation of Homeless Veterans?
We knew this was coming.
Today, one in four homeless people in America is a veteran. Untreated PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) is a known factor that could lead to homelessness and recent studies have proven there is a causal link between traumatic brain injury and homelessness.
So it shouldn't come as any surpirse that veterans from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are becoming homeless. The San Francisco Chronicle reported yesterday that California, like many other states, is seeing an increase in homeless veterans.
It's no wonder: after the constant stress and terror of living in a war zone, how can anyone return to life in America and function normally?
As the article illustrates, many veterans are not. Here are three examples from the SF Chronicle:
Ethan Kreutzer joined the Army at the age of 17 and fought with the 19th Airborne in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. When he retuned home, he had no money, no education and no civilian job experience. He soon became homeless. He slept in an alley off Haight Street, behind two trash cans.
June Moss drove from Kuwait to Iraq as an Army engineer in a truck convoy. When she returned to the United States, she lost her home, and drove her two young children from hotel to hotel across Northern California.
Sean McKeen, a hardy, broad-shouldered 21-year-old with a wide smile, went to Iraq to clear land mines, and to get money for college. When he returned home, he became homeless in less than a week. He found himself sleeping in a cot in a crowded homeless shelter in San Francisco.
Joel John Roberts, who blogs at LA's Homeless Blog, picked up on this story yesterday. He writes:
Although the Veterans Administration is trying hard to address mental health issues among veterans-they have hired 17,000 mental health workers-many are worried that when the 2 million active service members return home, they will overwhelm the system.
Many homeless advocates echo the sentiment.
Once again, the system to end homelessness needs a much more significant proactive approach to preventing homelessness.
As a colleague of mine told me yesterday, if our country doesn't recognize how today's current economic crisis is increasing homelessness, we may very well see homeless numbers dramatically spike like in the 1980s.
He makes a great point: could this be a repeat of the 1980s? If so, why haven't we learned from our past?
Why are we allowing history to repeat itself?
Shannon Moriarty
has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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