This is the day to remember our veterans -- all those, living or dead, who served in the military. My husband, father, father-in-law, brother, brother-in-law, uncles, and one aunt, all served, as well as many of my friends. It's an honorable thing to have done.
We are encouraged to thank veterans for their service... and that's great.
But sometimes thank you isn't enough.
The following statistics are from the website of The Coalition for Homeless Veterans:
DEMOGRAPHICS OF HOMELESS VETERANS
- 12% of the homeless adult population are veterans
- 20% of the male homeless population are veterans
- 68% reside in principal cities
- 32% reside in suburban/rural areas
- 51% of individual homeless veterans have disabilities
- 50% have serious mental illness
- 70% have substance abuse problems
- 51% are white males, compared to 38% of non-veterans
- 50% are age 51 or older, compared to 19% non-veterans
It's estimated that almost 50, 000 veterans are homeless on any given night. (The fact there are around 1,750,000 homeless in all is truly shameful. Statistics HERE)
Thank you for your service . . . no panhandling allowed.
