Report: More than 6,000 city veterans left homeless

**min0 lee** · 11-13-2007, 08:51 AM

What's wrong here?

Report: Ending homelessness among veterans
One in four homeless New Yorkers is a military veteran - and the number of war heroes living on the street is surging, a new report shows.
Nearly 6,000 servicemembers in the city and Long Island are homeless as returning soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan battle tough economic times and sky-high housing costs, the Veterans Day report from the National Alliance to End Homelessness says.
"Even one homeless veteran is one too many," said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York). The report details a growing crisis, with the number of homeless vets up by 70% in a year in the New York area. There are at least 530 homeless veterans in the Bronx, 880 in Brooklyn, 680 in Manhattan and 970 in Queens, the report says.
"You are taught survival skills [in the military] and you end up on the street, and it's a jungle," said homeless vet Harold Gilchrist, 38. "It's not easy. Not easy at all."
Gilchrist served in the Marine Corps and fought in Operation Desert Storm. He was discharged in 1993 after being wounded by a land mine, but returned to the U.S. without a home or a job.
"I've put my life on the line," said Gilchrist, who was picking up lunch at the Bowery Mission. "It's not right."
Frank Howela spent a year in the service in the '70s, but fighting for his country didn't help him stay off the streets.
"Once you take off your uniform, you become pretty much invisible," said Howela, 58.
Homeless advocates have long pushed for more support to prevent veterans from falling down the spiral of homelessness. The Jericho Project, a national organization that works to forge permanent solutions to homelessness, yesterday announced a new program in the Bronx to house 56 formerly homeless vets.
"Our veterans put their lives on the line to defend our way of life," said Tori Lyon, head of the project. "They deserve more than a life of homelessness."
Schumer is pushing for a four-point plan to help veterans, including $75 million in new funding for veterans' homelessness programs in a bill President Bush has threatened to veto.
Schumer also wants to dramatically expand housing voucher programs for veterans, provide extra mental health care for soldiers and fund transitional programs that ease their return to civilian life.
"Whatever your view is on the Iraq war, we should honor them," he said. "This is in a very real sense, a national disgrace."
oyaniv@nydailynews.com

**lnvanry** · 11-13-2007, 01:39 PM

thats a damn shame....that would be one program I wouldn't mind paying taxes for.

**KelJu** · 11-13-2007, 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by lnvanry

thats a damn shame....that would be one program I wouldn't mind paying taxes for.

Me too. I'm sick of hearing this bullshit about supporting the troops, yet funding is being cut every where possible to the injured while we spend more and more on sending more troops to war.

I predict this thread will be very interesting.

**BoneCrusher** · 11-13-2007, 03:49 PM

It also blows chunks that every damn bum on the street has an "I'm a Vet" sign. Not all of them are and I don't give money to lazy people. I do give to the food banks and I have a few pet DISABLED homeless people that I toss $$$ at but I'm not going to enable a bum to stay a bum by giving him free money.

**BigDyl** · 11-13-2007, 03:57 PM

Meanwhile Bush is vetoing a healthcare bill for sick children. What would Jesus Veto? A healthcare bill for children of course.

Give us your sick and poor, and tired and... on second thought, give us your money and go to hell sucker.

**BigDyl** · 11-13-2007, 03:58 PM

Originally Posted by BoneCrusher

It also blows chunks that every damn bum on the street has an "I'm a Vet" sign. Not all of them are and I don't give money to lazy people. I do give to the food banks and I have a few pet DISABLED homeless people that I toss $$$ at but I'm not going to enable a bum to stay a bum by giving him free money.

You're a bum.

**min0 lee** · 11-13-2007, 04:00 PM

Originally Posted by BigDyl

You're a bum.

Loveable bum or just a plain bum??

**BoneCrusher** · 11-13-2007, 04:13 PM

Originally Posted by BigDyl

You're a bum.

Make up your mind BigDyl ... am I a bum or a spy? You're giving me an identity crises.

**KelJu** · 11-13-2007, 05:06 PM

...

...

...

waits for the republican open chat turds to come defend the current administration by changing the subject

**DOMS** · 11-13-2007, 05:35 PM

Originally Posted by KelJu

...

...

...

waits for the republican open chat turds to come defend the current administration by changing the subject

No, I'd drop by and say "Fuck you."

There's no way in hell I'd defend against this. Hell, I don't defend Bush in general, much less on important topics like this.

**clemson357** · 11-13-2007, 05:41 PM

If I ever became homeless, no way would I live in New York City. Fuck that. I'd walk/hitch my way to the Rocky Mountains, then live in the woods.

Also, if housing costs are preventative, why not move somewhere else? I knew people in SC who paid less than $200/month for rent. You can make that much working part time at minimum wage, and still have money left for food.

**BoneCrusher** · 11-13-2007, 05:59 PM

Okay so after some thought I gots an opinion. Like that's a change.

The majority of Americans WOULD get behind this. Most would even kick in financially. We cold make rules that require certain people to be mandatory contributors. For example if you own a single share of a company that made money off of these solders through any of the millions of contract companies -or- weapons manufacturing co's then you gotta buck up. If you held a sign at a Dixie Chicks concert calling them the Ditsy Twits for slamming the war then you gotta buck up. If you voted for Bush the second time around, or if you think warm and fuzzy thoughts about Donald Rumsfeld in general ... you gotta buck up for the homeless vets.

Hehehe .... and if you have "Policing the world" or anything like it in your sig ... then you gotta buck up for the homeless vets.

**BoneCrusher** · 11-13-2007, 06:13 PM

Originally Posted by clemson357

If I ever became homeless, no way would I live in New York City. Fuck that. I'd walk/hitch my way to the Rocky Mountains, then live in the woods.

Also, if housing costs are preventative, why not move somewhere else? I knew people in SC who paid less than $200/month for rent. You can make that much working part time at minimum wage, and still have money left for food.

It's not that easy for these people. If they had the ability to get past their issues without help they'd already be renting those $200 a month shacks you speak of.

I don't know if you're a vet from an active war zone where you had to see your bro's die or you yourself had to kill people but try this out so you can see where those that have been there are coming from now that they are back in civilian life.

When you go to work tomorrow keep mentally focused on the absolute worst moment of your entire life ... stay focused on it every moment of your working day. Now imagine that feeling at some degree intruding into your thought processes everyday of your life. Of course some days are better than others but still, would you be able to function at a level worth your current salary?

If you want to see where these guys are in their heads go to ogrish and look for the Iraqi war videos. Seeing it is nothing like living it, but it will offer clarity of thought.

**KelJu** · 11-13-2007, 06:33 PM

Originally Posted by clemson357

If I ever became homeless, no way would I live in New York City. Fuck that. I'd walk/hitch my way to the Rocky Mountains, then live in the woods.

Also, if housing costs are preventative, why not move somewhere else? I knew people in SC who paid less than $200/month for rent. You can make that much working part time at minimum wage, and still have money left for food.

Clemson, they are mentally fucking ill! They are not rational anymore. They are psychologically broken human beings, and they were broken while serving our country, many of them against their will. They deserve better than being wrote off and ignored by simply saying "well they could get a job if they wanted too".

Were is all this support the troops talk? Yeah thats right, most of you people tauting that slogan are completely full of shit and don't care about the troops. Sure when they are blowing up Iraqis, lets support the troops, but when they come home fucked-up both physically and mentally all you have to say is they should move somewhere where housing is cheaper. DUDE!!! They live in the fucking garbage! You are a unsympathetic piece of shit that lives in fantasy land.

**maniclion** · 11-14-2007, 03:50 AM

The guy who managed the computer resource center at my college was a Vietnam vet. He told me that when he came back he was fine but then in the late 70's something got triggered in his brain and he just left home and started wandering the streets for 8 years. He would find himself kneeling in a parking lot drinking from a puddle, he wouldn't remember how he'd got there, helicopters made him panic and he would hide. Fireworks during new years and 4th of July made him feel violent. Finally one of the teachers from my school who runs a non-profit center for vets(his father was a vet who went crazy like that and killed himself) found him and helped him get the care he needed and then a job at the College. Hell I sometimes have nightmares about my time in the Navy and I wasn't even in a war, just some high tension times in the Persian Gulf like having a gun boat shoot at us and boarding some suspicious vessels and searching the hulls plus the constant fear of hitting a mine. So I couldn't even imagine what kind of horrible stuff lurks in the depths of a war veterans mind...

**Big Smoothy** · 11-14-2007, 05:36 AM

Originally Posted by min0 lee

What's wrong here?

One in four homeless New Yorkers is a military veteran - and the number of war heroes living on the street is surging, a new report shows.

"Hero" is too strong a word, and the Mainstream Media uses it incorrectly all the time.

Back on topic:

This Administration, and the US government as a whole have treated veterans terribly.

It's a laundry list. Here are just a few:

Poor medical care at Walter Read and other VA hospitals.

Failing to diagnose PTSD and brain injuries, for which the vets suffering from these have to fight to treatment and the appropriate benefits.

G.I. Bill funds have not kept up with education costs, so those eligible have to borrow more.

Denying the G.I. Bill to Iraqi war vets who spent 22 months deployed in Iraq because the Army contracted them 729 days, not the 730 days needed to qualify.

Mortgage payment problems when guard and reserves are deployed.

Not providing Kevlar bullet proof vests to people in Iraq. So their family orders it on Amazon.

Armoring equipment with scrap metal from junkyards

Unarmored Humvees (which cannot be properly armored because the transmission will go out because of the excess weight).

The list goes on.

The government uses the military as a tool for propaganda purposes. Remember all of the GWB speeches on TV to...the troops in uniform? Even though the intended audience and actual audience is the American civilian public?

**brogers** · 11-14-2007, 05:41 AM

Originally Posted by BigDyl

Meanwhile Bush is vetoing a healthcare bill for sick children. What would Jesus Veto? A healthcare bill for children of course.

Give us your sick and poor, and tired and... on second thought, give us your money and go to hell sucker.

He vetoed an expansion of the current program which would cover "children" up to age 25, and I believe the income expansion was past 80K. I'd have to check.

Off-topic Bush bashing, typical as always. The guy has done plenty of legitimately stupid things, this isn't one of them. Are you capable of staying on topic at all?

**DOMS** · 11-14-2007, 05:55 AM

Originally Posted by Big Smoothy

"Hero" is too strong a word, and the Mainstream Media uses it incorrectly all the time.

Back on topic:

This Administration, and the US government as a whole have treated veterans terribly.

It's a laundry list. Here are just a few:

Poor medical care at Walter Read and other VA hospitals.

Failing to diagnose PTSD and brain injuries, for which the vets suffering from these have to fight to treatment and the appropriate benefits.

G.I. Bill funds have not kept up with education costs, so those eligible have to borrow more.

Denying the G.I. Bill to Iraqi war vets who spent 22 months deployed in Iraq because the Army contracted them 729 days, not the 730 days needed to qualify.

Mortgage payment problems when guard and reserves are deployed.

Not providing Kevlar bullet proof vests to people in Iraq. So their family orders it on Amazon.

Armoring equipment with scrap metal from junkyards

Unarmored Humvees (which cannot be properly armored because the transmission will go out because of the excess weight).

The list goes on.

The government uses the military as a tool for propaganda purposes. Remember all of the GWB speeches on TV to...the troops in uniform? Even though the intended audience and actual audience is the American civilian public?

Like you really care about them you hypocritical piece of shit.

Originally Posted by Big Smoothy

I support the insurgents. I support road-side bombs. I support snipers.

uneducated, poorly read, no knowledge of Iraqi history,

they deserve what they get.

**KelJu** · 11-14-2007, 06:59 AM

Originally Posted by DOMS

Like you really care about them you hypocritical piece of shit.

Your comment rings true, but Smoothy is at least right in this example.

**BigDyl** · 11-14-2007, 07:42 AM

Originally Posted by brogers

He vetoed an expansion of the current program which would cover "children" up to age 25, and I believe the income expansion was past 80K. I'd have to check.

Showing your true colors I see.

The notion is to expand healthcare coverage for children. That's alot more patriotic than anything else I can think of. There must be some liberal agenda here to spend money for children...

**DOMS** · 11-14-2007, 07:44 AM

Originally Posted by KelJu

Your comment rings true, but Smoothy is at least right in this example.

True, he has a point, but it's like Hitler trying to create an outreach program for Jews.

**DOMS** · 11-14-2007, 07:45 AM

Originally Posted by BigDyl

Showing your true colors I see.

The notion is to expand healthcare coverage for children. That's alot more patriotic than anything else I can think of. There must be some liberal agenda here to spend money for children...

So, are you just going to keep talking out of your ass or are you going to attempt to refute his point?

**BigDyl** · 11-14-2007, 07:51 AM

Originally Posted by DOMS

So, are you just going to keep talking out of your ass or are you going to attempt to refute his point?

He doesn't have a point. It isn't even worth arguing. You shouldn't have to argue it, it should be obvious... unless you aren't a human being.

**BigDyl** · 11-14-2007, 07:54 AM

We've spent 1.6 trillion on killing people for false reasons. 1/160th of that to help children and save lives shouldn't even be a question.

**DOMS** · 11-14-2007, 07:55 AM

Originally Posted by BigDyl

He doesn't have a point. It isn't even worth arguing. You shouldn't have to argue it, it should be obvious... unless you aren't a human being.

So, you think that 25 year-olds should count as children?

**BigDyl** · 11-14-2007, 07:56 AM

Originally Posted by DOMS

So, you think that 25 years should count as children?

I'm 25, so yes.

**KelJu** · 11-14-2007, 08:39 AM

Originally Posted by DOMS

True, he has a point, but it's like Hitler trying to create an outreach program for Jews.

Yeah, but argue the point not the person.

**BoneCrusher** · 11-14-2007, 08:51 AM

It was considered that 25 years of age IS excessive, and an $80K a year income was also deemed as too high so the bill has been revamped and is on it's way through the the system. It'll make it this time I'm sure. If not, Bush's veto will be overridden on this one.

It has nothing to do with helping the veterans though

**DOMS** · 11-14-2007, 09:03 AM

Originally Posted by KelJu

Yeah, but argue the point not the person.

In an argument, you can't ignore who the speaker is. The person is the reference for what they are saying.

**BoneCrusher** · 11-14-2007, 09:25 AM

We've had the same issues brought up here in Austin as well. Seems like any major town near a base becomes home to the homeless vets. I will be less critical of younger bums now. I had that "HE's too young to be a bum" thing going on when I see a 26ish year old guy with a sign. Now I'll ask what his MOS was ...

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