- Recent war vets face risk of homelessness, By Gregg Zoroya, July 25, 2011, USA Today: ” More than 10,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are homeless or in programs aimed at keeping them off the streets, a number that has doubled three times since 2006, according to figures released by the Department of Veterans Affairs.The rise comes at a time when the total number of homeless veterans has declined from a peak of about 400,000 in 2004 to 135,000 today. “We’re seeing more and more (Iraq and Afghanistan veterans),” says Richard Thomas, a Volunteers of America case manager at a shelter in Los Angeles. “It’s just a bad time for them to return now and get out of the military.”…”
- $1 million grant a lifeline for vets, By Adam Parker, July 28, 2011, Post and Courier: “George Krowska traveled to Myrtle Beach this spring after a relationship went sour. He had been staying in a Colorado shelter for a couple of months, the first time in his life the 62-year-old Army veteran was homeless. But in Myrtle Beach, he was abandoned, he said. Krowska has a heart blockage that qualifies him for disability benefits and requires a certain proximity to a VA hospital, so he hitchhiked to Charleston. At the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, he received treatment, learned about Crisis Ministries, the area’s homeless shelter and got a bus pass…”
- VA embarks on national homeless prevention initiative, By Lidia Dinkova, July 27, 2011, Miami Harald: “The United States Department of Veterans Affairs has embarked on a national initiative that aims to financially support low-income veterans and their families. The funds will be distributed in the form of grants to non-profit organizations, which, in turn, will give the money to veterans. Six Florida organizations are recipients of these grants, including the Advocate Program and Carrfour Supportive Housing, both in South Florida…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty