Rising number of veterans are homelessby Kelli Cheatham (kcheatham@wsbt.com)
Dave McBee, left, a U.S. Marine combat veteran of the Iraq War waits in the "med line" at the "Soldier On" veterans homeless shelter, in Leeds, Mass., Friday, July 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Steven Senne) SOUTH BEND — They put their lives on the line for our country, now thousands of veterans are sleeping on the streets. It's estimated 25 percent of veterans are homeless. Multimedia About 97 percent are men. The number of homeless Vietnam vets is now greater than the number of service people who died during that war. But veterans from all ages and walks of life are falling through the cracks. For veterans like Mark Harrington and Noah Robinson, years of service and dedication have faded into a sea of red tape and desperation. "Sometimes, in a sense, you feel like the government isn't doing everything they need to do," said Robinson. "My last two years were in the U.S. Marine Corps as a combat medic," explained Mark Harrington. "Coming back I felt pretty alienated." Harrington served in both the Navy and Marines. He spent two years in Okinawa, then says he came back with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. "That led me into a cycle of drugs and alcohol," Harrington said. "And I found myself basically without any hope." Robinson served six years in the Air Force. Now he lives at the Center for the Homeless because it's a struggle to get help from Veteran's Affairs. "You do have to file stuff in triplicates," he said. "You have to go to this office, and that office sends you to that office. Even sometimes just switching clinics from one state to another can take you a year to 18 months." Right now, 200 people are sleeping at the Center for the Homeless. Fifty of them are veterans. "One of the things the center's been able to do for me is point me in the direction of some Veteran's Aid programs," Mark Harrington said. Both men are living statistics. According to Veteran's Affairs, more than 25 percent of vets are homeless, 45 percent of them suffer from mental illness, 70 percent suffer from alcohol or other drug abuse problems and 56 percent are black or Hispanic. "That's shocking to me to know that these people who graciously served their country have ended up homeless," said Center for the Homeless Executive Director Steve Camilleri. Most PopularMore Good Stuff |
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