Subject: FW: Back from Iraq (and homeless) Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 12:33:15 -0600 Message-ID: <B14120EE5C432443B21102F7925DAD02014203F6@COKE.uwec.edu> From: "Grossman, Zoltan C." <GROSSMZC@uwec.edu>
-----Original Message-----
From: Rockrap@aol.com [mailto:Rockrap@aol.com]
Sent: Tue 2/8/2005 11:51 AM
To: amber@dons.net
Subject: Back from Iraq (and homeless)
During the Super Bowl, there was much talk of how much America loves the
troops. Where are the politicians and the media now, when our troops are
in the
streets of the U.S., not Iraq? Insuring the profits of the real estate
industry
by restricting access to housing is more important to them than the
welfare of
our vets.
Back From Iraq -- and Out on the Streets
By Alexandra Marks, The Christian Science Monitor
Skyrocketing housing costs are part of the reason some recent veterans
are
homeless. Mental health is a factor too.
NEW YORK - Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts are now
showing up
in the nation's homeless shelters.
While the numbers are still small, they're steadily rising, and raising
alarms in both the homeless and veterans' communities. The concern is
that these
returning veterans - some of whom can't find jobs after leaving the
military,
others of whom are still struggling psychologically with the war - may
be just
the beginning of an influx of new veterans in need. Currently, there are
150,000 troops in Iraq and 16,000 in Afghanistan. More than 130,000 have
already
served and returned home.
So far, dozens of them, like Herold Noel, a married father of three,
have
found themselves sleeping on the streets, on friends' couches, or in
their cars
within weeks of returning home. Two years ago, Black Veterans for Social
Justice (BVSJ) in the borough of Brooklyn, saw only a handful of recent
returnees.
Now the group is aiding more than 100 Iraq veterans, 30 of whom are
homeless.
"It's horrible to put your life on the line and then come back home to
nothing, that's what I came home to: nothing. I didn't know where to go
or where to
turn," says Mr. Noel. "I thought I was alone, but I found out there are
a
whole lot of other soldiers in the same situation. Now I want people to
know
what's really going on."
After the Vietnam War, tens of thousands of veterans came home to a
hostile
culture that offered little gratitude and inadequate services,
particularly to
deal with the stresses of war. As a result, tens of thousands of Vietnam
veterans still struggle with homelessness and drug addiction.
Veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are coming home to a very
different America. While the Iraq war remains controversial, there is
almost
unanimous support for the soldiers overseas. And in the years since
Vietnam, more than
250 nonprofit veterans' service organizations have sprouted up, many of
them
created by people like Peter Cameron, a Vietnam veteran who is
determined that
what happened to his fellow soldiers will not happen again.
But he and dozens of other veterans' service providers are concerned by
the
increasing numbers of new veterans ending up on streets and in shelters.
Part of the reason for these new veterans' struggles is that housing
costs
have skyrocketed at the same time real wages have remained relatively
stable,
often putting rental prices out of reach. And for many, there is a gap
of
months, sometimes years, between when military benefits end and veterans
benefits
begin.
"We are very much committed to helping veterans coming back from this
war,"
says Mr. Cameron, executive director of Vietnam Veterans of California.
"But
the [Department of Veterans Affairs] already has needs it can't meet and
there's
a lot of fear out there that programs are going to be cut even further."
Beyond the yellow ribbons
Both the Veterans Administration and private veterans service
organizations
are already stretched, providing services for veterans of previous
conflicts.
For instance, while an estimated 500,000 veterans were homeless at some
time
during 2004, the VA had the resources to tend to only 100,000 of them.
"You can have all of the yellow ribbons on cars that say 'Support Our
Troops'
that you want, but it's when they take off the uniform and transition
back to
civilian life that they need support the most," says Linda Boone,
executive
director of The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.
After the Vietnam conflict, it was nine to 12 years before veterans
began
showing up at homeless shelters in large numbers. In part, that's
because the
trauma they experienced during combat took time to surface, according to
one
Vietnam veteran who's now a service provider. Doctors refer to the
phenomenon as
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
A recent study published by the New England Journal of Medicine found
that 15
to 17 percent of Iraq vets meet "the screening criteria for major
depression,
generalized anxiety, or PTSD." Of those, only 23 to 40 percent are
seeking
help - in part because so many others fear the stigma of having a mental
disorder.
Many veterans' service providers say they're surprised to see so many
Iraq
veterans needing help so soon.
"This kind of inner city, urban guerrilla warfare that these veterans
are
facing probably accelerates mental-health problems," says Yogin Ricardo
Singh,
director of the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program at BVSJ. "And
then
there's the soldier's mentality: Asking for help is like saying, 'I've
failed a
mission.' It's very hard for them to do."
Beyond PTSD and high housing costs, many veterans also face an income
void,
as they search for new jobs or wait for their veterans benefits to kick
in.
When Mr. Noel was discharged in December of 2003, he and his family had
been
living in base housing in Georgia. Since they were no longer eligible to
live
there, they began the search for a new home. But Noel had trouble
landing a
job and the family moved to New York, hoping for help from a family
member.
Eventually, they split up: Noel's wife and infant child moved in with
his
sister-in-law, and his twins were sent to relatives in Florida. Noel
slept in his car,
on the streets, and on friend's couches.
Last spring he was diagnosed with PTSD, and though he's currently in
treatment, his disability claim is still being processed. Unable to keep
a job so far,
he's had no steady income, although an anonymous donor provided money
for him
to take an apartment last week. He expects his family to join him soon.
'Nobody understood ... the way I was'
Nicole Goodwin is another vet diagnosed with PTSD who has yet to receive
disability benefits. Unable to stay with her mother, she soon found
herself
walking the streets of New York, with a backpack full of her belongings
and her
1-year-old daughter held close.
"When I first got back I just wanted to jump into a job and forget about
Iraq, but the culture shock from the military to the civilian world hit
me," she
says. "I was depressed for months. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. The
worst
thing wasn't the war, it was coming back, because nobody understood why
I was
the way I was."
Ms. Goodwin was determined not to sleep on the streets, and so
eventually
went into the New York City shelter system where, after being shuffled
from
shelter to shelter, she was told she was ineligible for help. But media
attention
changed that, and she was able to obtain a rent voucher. With others'
generosity, she also found a job. She's now attending college and
working with other
veterans who are determined to go to Washington with their stories.
"When soldiers get back, they should still be considered military until
they
can get on their feet," she says. "It's a month-to-month process, trying
to
actually function again. It's not easy, it takes time."
02-08-05 06:35 EST
Copyright 2005 The Christian Science Monitor.
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