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Statistics & Studies: Homeless Veterans Survey - Nov. 9 2006
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Statistics & Studies: Homeless Veterans Survey - Nov. 9 2006 |
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HOMELESS VETERANS DECLINE, NATIONAL SURVEY SAYS Attrition, More and Better Services, Seen as Major Contributors Homeless veterans are on the decline, according to a national survey of 20,000 homeless people, released today by the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions (AGRM). In 2006, one-in-five (20%) homeless men reported that they were veterans, compared to one-in-three (34%) just ten years ago. “The reasons for the decline are varied,” said Phil Rydman, director of communications for AGRM. “Men who served in Korea and Vietnam are getting older, so there is some natural attrition. However, our missions also note improvements in Veterans Administration services and increased trust in those services among the homeless people they serve.” VA officials are working closely with Rescue Missions, and other service providers, to be more accessible to homeless vets. In some missions, VA counselors regularly visit to explain benefits and provide reference materials to people in need. Tom Douglas is a Vietnam vet who spent time in the VA hospital in Durham, North Carolina due to alcoholism. “I owe my life to the VA,” Douglas said, “But when it came time to leave the hospital, I was more scared of being homeless than I ever was in Vietnam combat. I wanted to be dead.” Douglas says the mission gave him hope. “It took the pressure off. I knew I would have a roof over my head and food in my belly.” With the help of the Durham Rescue Mission, Douglas is overcoming his addiction and is able to use his marketing degree in his job in the mission’s donor relations department. Organizations dedicated to serving veterans have increased in number and services, perhaps spurred by an expanded interest in caring for the men and women who have spent time in Afghanistan and Iraq. Rescue Missions also report more job and education opportunities specifically for veterans. In the 2006 survey, 4% of the veterans said they served in Korea (compared to 10% in 1996), 39% in Vietnam (43% in 1996) and 16% in the Persian Gulf (10% in 1996). Female veterans in 2006 accounted for 2% of the women coming to Rescue Missions, verses 3% ten years ago. “The growth in the Persian Gulf number is predictable,” Rydman said, “And we could see more veterans from the extended conflict in the Middle East as they come home and leave the service. Some of the men and women who have been closely involved – and perhaps seen comrades killed or severely injured – will have a hard time adjusting to the pressures of life. Without a diligent effort from the VA and other veterans groups, we may see an increase in veterans on the street in the next ten years.” The survey, the 18th annual Snapshot Survey of the Homeless, was conducted during the second week of October at 137 Rescue Missions across North America. Founded in 1913, the Kansas City-based Association of Gospel Rescue Missions represents 300 Rescue Missions in communities across North America that provide emergency food and shelter, youth and family services, rehabilitation programs for the addicted, and assistance to the elderly, poor and at-risk youth. Last year, AGRM missions served more than 37 million meals, provided 14 million nights of lodging, distributed more than 26 million pieces of clothing and graduated 16,000 homeless men and women into productive living. ### For
more information contact the AGRM website at
www.rescuemissions.org or call
1-800-4RESCUE. |