Homeless Vets Need AssistanceRalph Stonebyline‚ Dec. 05‚ 2007"Support our troops." How often have we heard this Bush administration mantra whenever Congress or the public demands Iraq funding accountability or an Iraq withdrawal timeline? Yet, once the troops become veterans, too often they are woefully neglected. In a 2006 survey, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates that 26% of homeless people are veterans. VA further estimates that at least 195,827 veterans are homeless in the United States, a conservative estimate, 49,724 in California, and 3,000 in San Francisco, with 1,356 of these 3,000 classified as "chronically homeless." The VA defines "chronically homeless" as an individual with a disabling condition who has been continually homeless for a year or more or has had four or more episodes of homelessness over the past three years. |