How to support a vet: Give to homeless shelters

[Lanya]

THE BEST WAY TO SUPPORT A VET: GIVE TO A HOMELESS SHELTER.

http://www.juancole.com/

Ironically, among the best things you can do to support the veterans is to give regularly to your local homeless shelter. (We should all be doing that anyway, since it is not a cause that is easy to raise money for, and government has tended to fall down on the job in this regard. One third of the homeless are families with children. You can easily find out which is the major local homeless shelter in your area.)

It is no surprise, then, that 200,000 veterans have been homeless at some point in the past year, and that veterans make up 26% of the homeless, even though they are only 11% of the population. Experts fear that many Iraq and Afghanistan vets will also end up homeless. The homelessness seems to me obviously an outgrowth of PTSD (which can lead to alcoholism and to the break-up of families, and generally to a reduction in emotional and kin support for an individual who seems habitually angry, distant, and acting a bit oddly). The article says,

? Younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are trickling into shelters and soup kitchens seeking services, treatment or help with finding a job. Some advocates say the early presence of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan at shelters does not bode well for the future. It took roughly a decade for the lives of Vietnam veterans to unravel to the point that they started showing up among the homeless. Advocates worry that intense and repeated deployments leave newer veterans particularly vulnerable. ?We?re going to be having a tsunami of them eventually because the mental-health toll from this war is enormous,? said Daniel Tooth, director of veterans affairs for Lancaster County, Pa.?

[Seamus]

THE BEST WAY TO SUPPORT A VET: GIVE TO A HOMELESS SHELTER.

http://www.juancole.com/

Ironically, among the best things you can do to support the veterans is to give regularly to your local homeless shelter. (We should all be doing that anyway, since it is not a cause that is easy to raise money for, and government has tended to fall down on the job in this regard. One third of the homeless are families with children. You can easily find out which is the major local homeless shelter in your area.)

It is no surprise, then, that 200,000 veterans have been homeless at some point in the past year, and that veterans make up 26% of the homeless, even though they are only 11% of the population. Experts fear that many Iraq and Afghanistan vets will also end up homeless. The homelessness seems to me obviously an outgrowth of PTSD (which can lead to alcoholism and to the break-up of families, and generally to a reduction in emotional and kin support for an individual who seems habitually angry, distant, and acting a bit oddly). The article says,

? Younger veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are trickling into shelters and soup kitchens seeking services, treatment or help with finding a job. Some advocates say the early presence of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan at shelters does not bode well for the future. It took roughly a decade for the lives of Vietnam veterans to unravel to the point that they started showing up among the homeless. Advocates worry that intense and repeated deployments leave newer veterans particularly vulnerable. ?We?re going to be having a tsunami of them eventually because the mental-health toll from this war is enormous,? said Daniel Tooth, director of veterans affairs for Lancaster County, Pa.?

How frustrating.  I understand that transitioning from wartime veteran to family man/woman is a significantly difficult thing.  There have been reports on it.  But I find it a little heartbreaking to hear that our vets are ending up homeless. 

I've mentioned that I live near a major veterans hospital.  While I don't believe I can do much for the homeless, I do think I will be checking into what I can do at the hospital.

Thanks for the wake up call.

[Lanya]

You're welcome.
In your city, are there no homeless shelters?  Usually the Salvation Army has some beds.

[yellow_crane]

One third of the homeless are Iraqi vets.

Given that Blackwater and other corporate coup thugs make about eleven times what a GI makes, you would think the beast would stir.  Guess even that can't compete with Gilligan's Island or celebrity dance shit.

Usually, the typical American's response to the homeless is to label them all addicts.  Interesting side point about that:  army vets who claim they are alcoholics will have their PTSD benefits taken away from them.  That is why you rarely see them seeking treatment. 

It is just as well.  Street level treatment for alcoholics has been taken over by Christian-based cliques.
Local guys here tell me that these Christian-based treatment facilities find ways to punish them if they attend AA meetings. 

AA apparently is satanically based.

I'll say one thing--these no-brain nabobs certainly don't lack for brass.

[Amianthus]

One third of the homeless are Iraqi vets.

Source?

[Plane]

"It is just as well.  Street level treatment for alcoholics has been taken over by Christian-based cliques.
Local guys here tell me that these Christian-based treatment facilities find ways to punish them if they attend AA meetings.  "



That is very odd.

Any sorce I could read up on this?