...NUR471 | Homeless Veterans | A Vulnerable Population | | Tina Sampers | 4/29/12 | Description of the selected population The assumption that all veterans receive free health care and supported by the United States government is a sad misconception and unrealistic dream. Homeless veterans by definition are a group of individuals who have served in the United States military and do not have shelter, or home at night. The Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act offers a detailed definition of homeless to include no shelter as defined as nights spent in a car, abandoned building or on the streets, in a homeless shelter, transitional housing, or with family members or friends without paying rent (O'Toole, 2010). Vulnerable population risk factors Homeless veterans are a vulnerable population group by definition, because they are a subgroup of the population more likely to develop health problems or have worse problems from health problems due to exposures to risks not experienced by the rest of the population (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2008, p. 712). According to the Veterans Affairs (VA), an estimated 194,000 veterans nationwide were homeless on any given night during the fiscal year 2005 (GAO, 2006, p.2). The VA admits it is difficult to obtain accurate numbers and fear the actual numbers are much higher (GAO, 2006, p.2). Researchers completed numerous studies to differentiate the health problems associated with homeless veterans compared to...
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...Homeless Veterans In April 1997 Venessa Turner joined the U.S Army and advanced to the rank of sergeant. Venessa was deployed to a camp 20 miles west of Baghdad, when one day she collapsed in 130 degree heat. This put Turner into a coma and she nearly died of heath failure. In 2003 Venessa was released with a pending medical discharge from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C, after her release, her story turned for the worst. The military did end up discharging Venessa Turner, with no place to live or ongoing health care. The result of this lead to Venessa having to move place to place, sleeping on friend and families couches and it was just her alone she also had a daughter. With no help from the VA or military housing Venessa and her daughter was left homeless. (National Coalition for Homeless Veterans) “One of every three...
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...Volunteering for Veterans Blueprints The social issue I am going to discuss today is the need for volunteers to help veteran facilities, homeless veterans and our disabled veterans. There used to be a fear that came with allowing civilian volunteers to work with veterans with PTSD, missing limbs, experiencing homelessness and I am here to tell you today that, that fear has diminished. The VA finally figured out that without the help of volunteers the Veteran Affairs and VA sponsored sites would not be as successful as we are. The VA finally acknowledged that community service and service learners are beneficial to the veterans who suffer from loss of family, companionship and miss being active. Those who suffer from PTSD like myself find...
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...Homeless Veterans Homeless Veterans, we see them everywhere and we always want to stop and donate but we never have time or no money ourselves. Should we spare a penny or two for them? The homeless veterans you see on the street did a favor for us by serving for our country and we should thank them and take two seconds out of our day to spare a few cents to make their day better. Homeless Veterans are common all around the United States. The percentage of homeless veterans go up when you're in a big city but have you thought of the percentage of homeless people in small towns. You seem them on street corners with their cardboard sign asking for help you look over and see them standing there. Take a second to help them. Even if it's a quarter it could make a...
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...America’s Homeless Veterans We see homeless people every day. We may choose to look at them or maybe we turn away and ignore their presence. We often label them as “Losers” or “Bums”. The one thing we can’t ignore is that we seem to see more and more of them each day and we now see women among their ranks. We rarely stop to think about the persons past, careers they may have had, families that love them, or don’t love them, and we never stop to consider that a lot of these people have served in our Armed Forces. The term, “Homeless Veteran” appalls most of us because we don’t want to think that the country they served, “The United States of America”, has turned its back on these individuals. Doesn’t that imply that “We” have turned our backs on them as well? If the Government is in charge of the care of our Veterans, and we as citizens vote for the people responsible for making decisions on our behalf, isn’t this a direct reflection of us as a society? We tend to vote in favor of the politician who cuts the funding of social programs in the name of saving tax dollars without considering the consequences. There are always consequences. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD, estimates the number of Homeless Veterans at roughly 50,000 on any given night while other sources place that number at roughly 130,000. I have found that all statistics given by any U.S. Government source are always extremely low, perhaps to influence public perception. The...
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...Veterans are former soldiers who have had wartime experiences. Veterans achieved much for the country, but they are faced with difficulties upon returning home. Some of the problems confronted by veterans are homelessness and mental disorders. Veterans are an important part of the US history. According to The History of Veterans Day (n.d.), Armistice Day was started at the end of World War I. Then twenty-eight years later, the name of this holiday changes to Veterans Day to honor all of the veterans who fought in any war. After that, some programs were created to support those veterans. The US Department of Veterans Affairs (2015) said that the purpose of this department is to create programs to help veterans with their needs. Some of these...
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...Homeless Veterans in America Name Institution Part 1 Statistics show that there are between 130,000 and 200,000 homeless veterans in America. Homeless veterans amount to about one-fourth and one-fifth of the entire homeless population in America. Homeless veterans are a population of Americans who have at one time or the other served their country in war. An estimated 131,000 veterans spend a night homeless, and this population doubles if one considers the population of homeless veterans over the course of the year. An approximate of 40% homeless men are veterans that are a significant considering 34% of the general adult male population is composed of veterans. Besides being homeless, this population faces other problems which include; social, economic, and psychological problems (Alker, 2009). Homeless veterans are more likely to suffer addiction as compared to the general population. According to Alker (2009), 76% of homeless veterans are alcohol or drug addicts. Because of the painful memories and the new reality of homelessness that dawn on them they turn to alcohol and drugs. Coupled with all the problems these homeless veterans experience social problems such as isolation. For this reason, they have no one to share their pains with and, therefore, they rarely receive help for treatable conditions such as addiction (Center for American Progress, 2008). Economic stressors are a root cause of homelessness for American veterans. The skills acquired from their military...
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...Everyday America’s Veterans come home from fighting over seas, just to find out that they can’t find any jobs. American Veterans risk their life everyday and sacrifice a lot for the United States, just to be rewarded with a struggle of finding a job or in worst cases not being able to get a job at all. Homeless veterans are becoming a big problem everyday and it is the society’s responsibility to take care of them. These veterans risked their lives to give American citizens freedom and a safe home to live in, and all they get is a boot to the street. Now it’s time for those veterans to be rewarded with a clean bed and a hot meal. According to Shaw a writer at Newsmax, wrote that in America it was estimated that there is more than 50,000 homeless veterans. Also, 92 percent of those homeless vets were male and the other 8 percent were female. According to Shaw returning veterans are twice as likely to become chronically homeless. In addition to 50 percent of all homeless veterans suffer from disabilities and are between the ages of 18-50 years old. The cause for veterans becoming homeless is due to poverty, lack of support from groups...
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...Homeless Veterans a Vulnerable Population Vulnerable populations are often used to characterize groups whose needs are not fully addressed by traditional service providers (Blue-Howells, J., McGuire, J., & Nakashima, J., 2008). These people believe they cannot comfortably or safely access and use the standard resources offered. They include physical or mental disabilities, limited or non-English speaking, geographic or cultural isolation, medical or chemical dependent, homeless, frail/elderly and children. Homeless veterans are examples of a vulnerable population. In this paper, the demographics and the present state of homeless veterans will be explored. Learning that veterans are considered part of a vulnerable population was not necessarily surprising given the physical and mental condition along with advanced age of many veterans. However, what is alarming is there are far too many veterans who are homeless. What makes this knowledge alarming is most Americans including myself believe veterans should be living a healthy and successful life as compensation for their sacrifice for our country (Wills, 2008). Many people in the United States think the needs of veterans are the responsibility of the government (Wills, 2008). In an ideal situation, the federal government would provide veterans with access to employment, housing, retirement or a pension, and free health care. These services are needed because of many health risks, physical or mental placed upon soldiers...
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...lives for us, however, many of these people are now homeless. In America, we have many veterans without a house or shelter, and that number is increasing everyday. Why are there so many Veterans on the street, when they have sacrificed so much for our country and livelihoods? We need to support homeless Veterans in our community, so that they can live in a home, not on the street. People have argued that veterans are homeless only because of the choices that they have made, and that is just not true. Not all veterans are homeless because of the choices that they made, and many of these veterans suffer from PTSD. Some people may argue that we should spend money on paying off America’s national debt, but in reality the national debt is too large for any of us to put a...
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...Homeless Veterans a Vulnerable Population Vulnerable populations are often used to characterize groups whose needs are not fully addressed by traditional service providers (Blue-Howells, J., McGuire, J., & Nakashima, J., 2008). These people believe they cannot comfortably or safely access and use the standard resources offered. They include physical or mental disabilities, limited or non-English speaking, geographic or cultural isolation, medical or chemical dependent, homeless, frail/elderly and children. Homeless veterans are examples of a vulnerable population. In this paper, the demographics and the present state of homeless veterans will be explored. Learning that veterans are considered part of a vulnerable population was not necessarily surprising given the physical and mental condition along with advanced age of many veterans. However, what is alarming is there are far too many veterans who are homeless. What makes this knowledge alarming is most Americans including myself believe veterans should be living a healthy and successful life as compensation for their sacrifice for our country (Wills, 2008). Many people in the United States think the needs of veterans are the responsibility of the government (Wills, 2008). In an ideal situation, the federal government would provide veterans with access to employment, housing, retirement or a pension, and free health care. These services are needed because of many health risks, physical or mental placed upon soldiers...
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...1120 Dr. Soto-Schwartz 15 October 2015 Veterans Affairs Helps Homeless Veterans Veterans Affairs is taking decisive action to end Veteran homelessness in five years. All Veterans at risk for homelessness or attempting to exit homelessness must have easy access to programs and services including prevention, housing support, treatment, employment and job training. Veterans Affairs programs and services aim to help homeless Veterans live as self-sufficiently and independently as possible. Veterans Affairs offer outreach, clinical assessment and referral to medical treatment, employment assistance, and supported permanent housing. One-third of adult homeless men and nearly one-quarter of all homeless adults have served in the armed forces. While there is no true measure of the number of homeless veterans, it has been estimated that fewer than 200,000 veterans may be homeless on any given night and that twice as many veterans experience homelessness during a year. Many other veterans are considered at risk because of poverty, lack of support from family and friends and precarious living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing. Ninety-seven percent of homeless veterans are male and the vast majority are single. About half of all homeless veterans suffer from mental illness and more than two-thirds suffer from alcohol or drug abuse problems. Nearly 40 percent have both psychiatric and substance abuse disorders. The Department of Veterans Affairs is the only federal agency that...
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...During his time as President, Obama has continuously made promises to help homeless veterans, specifically promising to eliminate homelessness among them by 2015. The Department of Veteran Affairs has reported that the number of homeless veterans has gone down by 33 percent since 2010, but there are still issues present. Lifezette issued a report that gives the public an in-depth view of what it is like for the veterans who are still living on the street and struggling to make ends meet. The report includes a video of homeless veterans who are living on the streets only one mile from the White House. Author of the report, Jon Conradi, wrote that nearly 840,000 men and women who were members of the armed forces spent at least one night on...
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...Homeless Veterans in the United States Mark Hernandez ITT Technical Institute – San Bernardino Abstract This paper discusses the homeless problem among United States veterans. It draws on statistics from The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that shows what percentage veterans make-up of the overall homeless population. It touches on the issues that returning veterans struggle with, and the factors involved with those who become homeless. It also will point out that solutions are too slow to come to the aid of those in need. Homeless Veterans in the United States Homelessness is an ever increasing problem in the United States, and no group is more affected than veterans of the military. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimates that nearly 60,000 veterans were homeless in 2013 (National Coalition of Homeless Veterans). Many of the servicemen and women returning from deployment suffer from physical disabilities or are dealing with mental health issues such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. Their need for medical care and the task of reinserting themselves back into civilian life is often too much for someone lacking a support structure. The financial burdens, or in some cases substance abuse, a byproduct of the stress following their deployment, often drives these veterans out of normal society to living on the streets. Medical treatment, whether physical or psychological, is the most important factor...
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...Real Life Experiment The timeless struggle between the cost of living and the income for low-wage work has made millions of working families unable to meet their basic needs. Barbara Ehrenreich investigates this struggle in her book, Nickel and Dimed. Working low-wage jobs in Florida, Maine and Minnesota as an undercover journalist, Ehrenreich gives a lively and interesting account of a low-wage worker’s life. She used first hand experiences, the lives of her co-workers, and added in facts (as footnotes). The research she did for this book was extensive. She collected the data and materials like a scientist and carefully compiled a book that shows the reader the unflattering realities that low-wage workers are faced with. She also struggled with some areas of the project and allowed her own opinions and choices to cloud her objective mind set. This project began during a lunch meeting between Ehrenreich and Lewis Lapham, the editor of Harper’s Magazine. After being told that she should be the one to go into the field and research whether it is possible to sustain a living on little to no income, she thinks about it and then reluctantly says she will. (5) She explains in the first section that she was aware of the advantages she would have over the real people in her project. She had numerous advantages over her co-workers including a completed education, a car, good health, health insurance, and money to get her started. (7) This had to be the first step that she took before...
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