Homes For Homeless Veterans

Memorial Day. Did you already forget that happened?

Even with hundreds of thousands of active US military stationed around the globe, the last Monday in May is still largely considered the paid-holiday between Good Friday and the Fourth of July. And although many pause between flipping burgers to give a nod to the men and women serving our nation, we haven’t done a stand-up job expressing our gratitude.

Did you know about one-third of the homeless population is made up of US veterans? I sure as heck didn’t. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs, as many as 154,000 veterans are homeless on any given night. About 300,000 US veterans have experienced homelessness at some point this year.

Fortunately, HELP USA, is working to change that.

Under the leadership of Chair Maria Cuomo Cole, the organization announced a three-year national expansion of permanent supportive housing for returning war veterans. Veterans have long faced challenges upon returning to civilian life. But soldiers coming back from overseas today, face unprecedented difficulties.

“I think the biggest change is the men and women fighting oversees right now had been in the National Guard and were family people, and have now been called up to duty to serve in forward points overseas,” explains HELP USA CEO Laurence Belinski. “And while they’re trained to deal with the physical aspects of what they need to do, I don’t think there’s really much that anyone can be trained for of what they encounter over there.”

The type of battle soldiers must engage in creates tremendous mental and emotional stress, much of which never receives proper treatment. In effect, post-traumatic stress disorder, brain injury and stress incurred by spending long periods of time in brutal conditions, afflict a large sector of the homeless veteran population. And, female veterans in particular are faced with the aftermath of sexual abuse. Unfortunately, we’ve traditionally done better fixing broken bones.

“As a society, we have not done well in dealing with people who have mental illness,” says Belinski. “And compound that with a predominantly male population having post-traumatic stress and psychological issues — we’re not prepared well for that and we don’t know how to address it.”

HELP USA’s comprehensive on-site human services accommodate the complex needs of returning veterans and their families. In addition to the much-needed emotional and mental care, HELP USA assists veterans in retaining jobs and furthering their education, as well as walking them through VA and government processes to insure they receive the benefits they deserve.

Belinski hopes that with the financial commitment from the government, HELP USA will be able to successfully develop upwards of 1,000 housing units in Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington D.C. and Las Vegas. But assistance from the government and organizations like HELP USA isn’t nearly enough; clearly the men and women who fight for our freedom are far from taken care of. There’s a need for an across-the-board change in perception.

“Everyone is horrified that this is happening to our veterans and then when you put the word ‘homeless’ in front of it there’s a whole other perception as to how the general public perceives them. I think it really starts with a commitment, which we have at least in words right now from our president with the executive order that the government has a zero-tolerance for homelessness and veterans.”

But the most effective solution may lie in making the powerful connection between the stark statistics and the humanity of soldiers. Belinski hopes that this generation of veterans can focus and get out to talk to people.

He explains, “Here’s Joe Smith, when he left he was our next door neighbor and was coaching his children’s little league and had a great job and he spent 18 months in Iraq and he’s come back a totally different person. How do we help him?”

Belinski shared a personal experience from this past Memorial Day when he took is 12-year-old daughter to their town’s parade. “You see 50 or 60 older gentleman sort of marching," he says, "and the best way to explain it to her is, ‘when you go up to them, you say ‘thank you.' She’s enjoying the sacrifices that they made and I don’t know how you bottle that kind of Memorial Day passion and gratitude for 365 days.”