Homeless Veterans Need More AssistanceRalph Stonebyline‚ Aug. 06‚ 2008We send our soldiers off to fight in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Yet, once the troops become veterans, too often they are woefully neglected. The U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) "2007 Annual Homeless Assessment Report" ("Report"), conservatively estimates that about 15 percent of 671,888 sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons in the United States are veterans. Thus, at least 195,827 veterans are homeless in the United States with 49,724 in California (about 0.44 percent of the total population). In addition, the National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that 89,553 to 467,877 veterans are at risk of homelessness, meaning that they are below the poverty level and paying more than 50 percent of household income on rent. |