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Veterans Fight New Battles When There's No Home To Call Their Own

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 22, 2007

Veronica James left one war and came home to another.

After two years of being deployed in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Army reservist came home thinking she could just pick up where she'd left off. But her marriage was on shaky ground, and motherhood and divorce came in short order. Her memories of working in a war-zone triage center, with its stream of bodies and body parts, made it hard for her to adjust to civilian life. Her relationship with her extended family became distant.

College-educated with a good job at a local bank, James couldn't make the bills as a single parent. And so like hundreds of other veterans from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, she faced homelessness.

In a nation where few families face daily reminders of the war, reports continue to increase about returning troops joining the ranks of the homeless.

For now, the count of homeless veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts stands at about 400.

That's 400 too many.

As a nation, we must commit to preventing this generation of soldiers from suffering the fate of thousands of other veterans from previous conflicts whose post-war needs were not met. The National Alliance to End Homelessness estimates that at some point last year, nearly 337,000 veterans were homeless.

That's a national shame.

In Hillsborough County, it is estimated that 18 percent of the 11,000 people who are homeless have served in the military.

Only a few dozen veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan have sought help from local charities that work with the homeless. Still, there is worry about the trend as many veterans - particularly reservists - return home to find their jobs gone, their families disrupted and their war-time experiences unfamiliar to those around them.

James has come through her trials with a roof over her head, a position as an accountant at a local jewelry store and quality childcare. Tampa has a safety net for veterans and James found help at the homeless women's veterans program at the Department of Veteran's Affairs.

For as little as a few utility bill payments, a car repair or rental assistance, a veteran and his family can stay in their homes. Local homeless advocates say preventing a family from becoming homeless might cost about $1,000, but that's cheaper than the $11,000 it would cost to shelter them and help them get set up in another home.

But Tampa's program is not the norm. It's one of a handful of cities with a specialized program to prevent veterans from becoming homeless.

Tampa's model should be taken nationwide.

The lesson from the scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where injured soldiers were treated shabbily, is Americans expect our war veterans to be treated properly and with respect.

Supporting the troops does not end when they return home. True support means this nation will help veterans transition into civilian life.

The indignity of homelessness should not befall another generation of war veterans.

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