By Peter S. Gaytan

The VA estimates that 107,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. While only about eight percent of the general population can claim veteran status, nearly one-fifth of the homeless population is veterans. More troubling, about 1.5 million other vets, are considered at risk of homelessness due to poverty, lack of support networks, and dismal living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing.

New VA initiatives are aimed at reaching out to homeless vets. Free meals will be offered at Veterans Canteen Services (VCS) cafeterias to homeless veterans attending their first VA medical appointment.

New veterans who are participating in the Housing and Urban Development and VA Supportive housing program will receive a $20 coupon to be used in VCS retail stores located at every VA medical center. The coupon will be presented upon showing a signed lease.

VCS helps facilitate vendor donations to various homeless programs, and operates more than 170 retail stores and cafeterias, providing competitively priced food and merchandise to VA patients, their families, caregivers, VA employees, volunteers, and visitors.

In a tough economic climate, with veteran unemployment unacceptably high, it is likely that the homeless veterans population will grow. Do we not owe those who have sacrificed so much the promise and security of a home?

For more information on these new programs, go to: http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2193

 

Peter S. Gaytan is the author of For Service To Your Country – Updated Edition: The Essential Guide to Getting the Veterans’ Benefits You’ve Earned(Citadel, 2011), available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other booksellers. He has served as an advocate in securing and protecting the earned benefits of America’s veterans for more than a decade. Gaytan is the Executive Director of the American Legion, the largest veterans service organization in America.