If you live in a major metropolitan area, you see them every day: Men and women who appear down on their luck, out of options, and running out of hope. They are under overpasses, atop park benches, and panhandling outside of bus and subway stops.
Many of these homeless men and women are veterans, who comprise approximately 12 percent of the homeless adult population. They have dutifully served their country. Now, they are homeless.
The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates there are nearly 50,000 homeless veterans throughout the country on any given night. In 2009, President Barak Obama and then-VA Secretary Eric Shinseki announced an initiative to eradicate veteran homelessness by 2015. At the end of 2014, a full five years later, the VA is only 33 percent closer to its goal. In other words, time is running out.
Even more disheartening is an Inspector General's report released on Dec. 3 investigating the National Call Centers for Homeless Veterans. The report stated there were an estimated 79,500 calls into the centers in fiscal year 2013. Of these, more than half were "missed opportunities where the Call Center either did not refer the homeless veterans' calls to medical facilities or it closed referrals without ensuring homeless veterans had received needed services from VA medical facilities."
Simply put, the VA's initiative is failing.
During 2014's Operation Caring Classroom — the Armed Forces Foundation's nationwide education initiative centered on Veterans Day — we helped schools organize blanket drives for homeless veterans. Through this nine-year program, we educate schoolchildren about the military and the importance of volunteerism. We are proud of the students and teachers who recognize the significance of giving back to our homeless veterans and we commend their selfless acts.
Simply put, these kids are doing what they can. Now it is time for the government and the rest of America to do the rest.
For more than 13 years, the Armed Forces Foundation has made it a priority to help all service members, veterans, and military families in need.
During that time period, the AFF has assisted thousands of military families with their mortgages, rent, car payments and utilities. Our financial assistance fund has granted millions of dollars to those in need to ensure they stay in their home. We ask for nothing in return.
With the 2012 launch of our Help Save Our Troops campaign, the AFF proactively educates Americans about the hidden wounds of war, including post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, and advocates for those troops and veterans who have suffered these hidden wounds. While the ultimate goal of Help Save Our Troops is to reduce military suicides, many of these invisible wounds also lead to homelessness. One major sample released by the American Psychological Association estimates that two-thirds of homeless Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffer from PTSD.
We have worked to eliminate many of the underlying factors of homelessness by providing funds for drug and alcohol addiction counseling and mental health therapy. With the backlog at the VA and many cases being mishandled, the AFF has stepped up and provided for those we can.
Simply put, we work to prevent veteran homelessness and the causes that lead many to be homeless.
For some, it's already too late. Eradicating veteran homelessness will take more than call centers and government funding. Based on the results of the president's initiative and the IG report, it's not working either.
In order to ensure every veteran has a place to call home, we need to focus on fixing the underlying factors of the problem.
We, as adults and as Americans, need to take charge of the VA's initiative and act decisively to end veteran homelessness. If schoolchildren can do their part, why can't we?