ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The smell of coffee filled the air on a recent Thursday morning in Carpenter’s Shelter, a homeless shelter here, as about a dozen people milled about.
Two U.S. Army veterans were among them: a middle-aged man and woman who aren’t looking for a permanent place to live. They said the food, showers and services at the shelter are enough, for now.
The Obama administration, in June 2014, challenged local governments to find a home for all veterans who want one by the end of this month. At least nine states and 850 municipalities tried to meet the goal, but Virginia and 15 municipalities were the only ones that succeeded.
But even there, hundreds of veterans remain homeless, most often because they have mental health or substance abuse problems, or just want to live on the street. In Virginia, the two at Carpenter’s Shelter are among about 600 homeless veterans. There are hundreds more in the municipalities that met the goal — in Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas.
The goal did not require municipalities to show that all veterans had been housed — just to prove they could quickly provide shelter, if needed. And even in places that did find a home for most veterans, some of them found themselves on the street again.
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DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
3 comments:
We work with Veterans a lot. Government say there are no homeless veterans on the Eastern Shore!!! What they have done is put veterans in rooms, apartments, etc. Only problem is they have no addition or alcohol counceling, they have no job training no back up personnel. These places are rented 6 months by the government they come back and ask the veteran if he has a job yet...no well they pay for another 6 months etc. It don't make any since. You can't throw money at a problem and it solve anything.
2:22 But the Obama Administration will support a million illegal immigrants for years and years whether they get a job or not. And on top of that grant them SS.
My training in the army was to kill crush and destroy the enemy , period. Many others were the same , law enforcement have accepted a lot of us because of our background. You think cops are unreasonable ? I wonder why , Dah ? ( remember , kill , crush and destroy). Ya think ?
Break the law , beware if I catch you!
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