The Pros And Cons Of Homeless Veterans

To serve your country means to put your life on the line for the lives of strangers, to come back stateside and find that those you protected look the other way when you are asking for help is shameful and unethical. Unfortunately, in America today there are about 49,933 homeless veteran, these are people who gave up part of their life for their country, people who are most likely suffering from PTSD or other mental disorder, and people who ultimately deserve better than the streets (“Fact Sheet: Veteran Homelessness”). Veterans who come home only to find themselves without one is a real issues in this country, as is that most veterans on the street are suffering from a mental illness or some kind of substance abuse, however, fortunately, there are places that are making improvements in the homeless veterans in their communities. …show more content…
According to “Fact Sheet: Veteran Homelessness”, “Homeless veterans tend to be male (91 percent), single (98 percent), live in a city (76 percent), and have a mental and/or physical disability (54 percent)”. Veterans are also more likely to become homeless than civilians because of disabilities or troubles adjusting back to regular life. Also, despite government and public funded drop-in centers for veterans, the statistics showing the number of homeless veterans is substantially different than the number of drop ins each center gets. In Houston, for example, there are about 3,600 homeless veterans, however, there are only 150-250 walk-ins each month at one center (“Overview of Homelessness in the Veteran Population”). Even with the most walk-ins a month, there are still at least 600 homeless veterans a year who are not getting the help they need in Houston. Essentially, an disheartening amount of veterans on the streets are niether getting the help they need, nor an adequate place to sleep at