panopticon
15th November 2011, 13:05
G'day All,
I came across this and found it interesting so did a bit of further research.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-14/american-vets-face-unemployment-and-homelessness/3666274
Transcript:
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2011/s3365199.htm
Some of the quotes I've come across don't surprise me:
'Death from suicides among veterans and service members from the war are now on par with combat deaths.' (US Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) (http://www.jcs.mil/speech.aspx?id=1617))
'... we did it in Vietnam, and we are doing it again. We are generating a homeless generation. Many more homeless female vets because they’re now – I think a quarter of a million have served in Iraq and Afghanistan incredibly well. And if we’re not careful, we’ll do the same thing we did last time [Vietnam]'. (Admiral Mike Mullen, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (US) (http://www.jcs.mil/speech.aspx?id=1617))
'Roughly 56 percent of all homeless veterans are African American or Hispanic, despite only accounting for 12.8 percent and 15.4 percent of the U.S. population respectively.' (National Coalition For Homeless Veterans (http://www.nchv.org/background.cfm))
'107,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. Over the course of a year, approximately twice that many experience homelessness' (Veterans Affordable Housing Program (http://veteransaffordablehousing.org/who-are-homeless-veterans/)).
'About 1.5 million other veterans, meanwhile, are considered at risk of homelessness due to poverty, lack of support networks, and dismal living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing.' (Veterans Affordable Housing Program (http://veteransaffordablehousing.org/who-are-homeless-veterans/))
So I thought I'd have a look for what was being done in the US by Vets for Vets and came across the Veterans Village of San Diego. It had interesting beginnings (http://www.vvsd.net/history.htm):
Veterans Village of San Diego was founded in 1981 by Vietnam veterans who were struggling with the traumas of war and looking to enhance services from the VA that were available to them at that time.
One day in 1981, five of them were sitting around in a group counseling session, talking seriously about mounting a combat assault on the VA. They knew they would probably get arrested but they were desperate to shine a spotlight on the lack of medical and psychological care for Vietnam veterans.
As luck would have it, the facilitator of the counseling session was Father William Mahedy, who served as an Army chaplain in Vietnam. Mahedy made a suggestion to the group. "Why don't you take this energy and do something that will really make a difference?"
The group took the suggestion to heart and formed Vietnam Veterans of San Diego to help their comrades who were sleeping on the streets, under bridges and in parks.
From this modest beginning, VVSD has evolved over the past three decades into a nationally-recognized , non governmental organization known for delivering innovative services to veterans.
In 2005, we changed our name to Veterans Village of San Diego to better reflect what we've been doing all along: helping to restore the lives of all veterans in need.
The 'Stand Down (http://www.vvsd.net/standdown_meaning.htm)' program the VVSD runs also appears to bring community and vets together:
YpJHJeYGKjA
The VVSD 'Stand Down (http://www.vvsd.net/standdown_meaning.htm)' program has generated a US wide program that is sponsored by the Dept. of Veteran Affairs as part of its other programs (http://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/Programs.asp) to combat Vet homelessness.
For remaining 2011 'Stand Down' event dates see this page:
http://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/StandDown.asp
It's good to see people caring for each other, even if only for a few days per year.
One day maybe it will be normal again to help people.
Offering a "hand up, not a hand out" helps people retain dignity.
Kind Regards, :yo:
Panopticon
Further Reading:
http://www.nchv.org/page.cfm?id=81
http://vafvets.org/resources_for_veterans_faqs.html
http://veteransaffordablehousing.org/who-are-homeless-veterans/
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/study-finds-homeless-veterans-stay-homeless-longer-than-others/
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/11/homeless-veterans-more-likely-to-stay-homeless-new-survey-finds.html
http://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/StandDown.asp
http://www.nchv.org/background.cfm
http://www.vvsd.net/history.htm
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/lateline/video/podcast/r854884_8126576.m4v
I came across this and found it interesting so did a bit of further research.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-14/american-vets-face-unemployment-and-homelessness/3666274
Transcript:
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2011/s3365199.htm
Some of the quotes I've come across don't surprise me:
'Death from suicides among veterans and service members from the war are now on par with combat deaths.' (US Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) (http://www.jcs.mil/speech.aspx?id=1617))
'... we did it in Vietnam, and we are doing it again. We are generating a homeless generation. Many more homeless female vets because they’re now – I think a quarter of a million have served in Iraq and Afghanistan incredibly well. And if we’re not careful, we’ll do the same thing we did last time [Vietnam]'. (Admiral Mike Mullen, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (US) (http://www.jcs.mil/speech.aspx?id=1617))
'Roughly 56 percent of all homeless veterans are African American or Hispanic, despite only accounting for 12.8 percent and 15.4 percent of the U.S. population respectively.' (National Coalition For Homeless Veterans (http://www.nchv.org/background.cfm))
'107,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. Over the course of a year, approximately twice that many experience homelessness' (Veterans Affordable Housing Program (http://veteransaffordablehousing.org/who-are-homeless-veterans/)).
'About 1.5 million other veterans, meanwhile, are considered at risk of homelessness due to poverty, lack of support networks, and dismal living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing.' (Veterans Affordable Housing Program (http://veteransaffordablehousing.org/who-are-homeless-veterans/))
So I thought I'd have a look for what was being done in the US by Vets for Vets and came across the Veterans Village of San Diego. It had interesting beginnings (http://www.vvsd.net/history.htm):
Veterans Village of San Diego was founded in 1981 by Vietnam veterans who were struggling with the traumas of war and looking to enhance services from the VA that were available to them at that time.
One day in 1981, five of them were sitting around in a group counseling session, talking seriously about mounting a combat assault on the VA. They knew they would probably get arrested but they were desperate to shine a spotlight on the lack of medical and psychological care for Vietnam veterans.
As luck would have it, the facilitator of the counseling session was Father William Mahedy, who served as an Army chaplain in Vietnam. Mahedy made a suggestion to the group. "Why don't you take this energy and do something that will really make a difference?"
The group took the suggestion to heart and formed Vietnam Veterans of San Diego to help their comrades who were sleeping on the streets, under bridges and in parks.
From this modest beginning, VVSD has evolved over the past three decades into a nationally-recognized , non governmental organization known for delivering innovative services to veterans.
In 2005, we changed our name to Veterans Village of San Diego to better reflect what we've been doing all along: helping to restore the lives of all veterans in need.
The 'Stand Down (http://www.vvsd.net/standdown_meaning.htm)' program the VVSD runs also appears to bring community and vets together:
YpJHJeYGKjA
The VVSD 'Stand Down (http://www.vvsd.net/standdown_meaning.htm)' program has generated a US wide program that is sponsored by the Dept. of Veteran Affairs as part of its other programs (http://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/Programs.asp) to combat Vet homelessness.
For remaining 2011 'Stand Down' event dates see this page:
http://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/StandDown.asp
It's good to see people caring for each other, even if only for a few days per year.
One day maybe it will be normal again to help people.
Offering a "hand up, not a hand out" helps people retain dignity.
Kind Regards, :yo:
Panopticon
Further Reading:
http://www.nchv.org/page.cfm?id=81
http://vafvets.org/resources_for_veterans_faqs.html
http://veteransaffordablehousing.org/who-are-homeless-veterans/
http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/study-finds-homeless-veterans-stay-homeless-longer-than-others/
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/11/homeless-veterans-more-likely-to-stay-homeless-new-survey-finds.html
http://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/StandDown.asp
http://www.nchv.org/background.cfm
http://www.vvsd.net/history.htm
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/lateline/video/podcast/r854884_8126576.m4v