Ending homelessness among returning war veterans

Step one would be to respond to the soldiers in country as soon as possible following traumatic events. We manage to do it for police officers and firefighters plus survivors and witnesses but we don't seem to be able to do it for them. We know that intervention cuts down on the ravages of PTSD.

Step two would be to respond as soon as possible with help to a veteran because he is fully aware of what PTSD is and seeks it fast. Big problem here because too many still don't know what PTSD is, have a twisted idea of it given the fact the stigma lives on and too many still are not hearing what they need to know. PTSD stops getting worse as soon as it is treated.

Step three would be to make sure every community around the country had support set up to help the veterans. No more excuses. Stop pointing to the change in the rules for VA free care. While they can received medical help free of charge for five years instead of two now, this does not mean an approved claim and it sure doesn't mean they get financial support while they heal until they have an approved claim. Top that off with the fact too many claims are given a less than real disability rating but they are expected to live off of it.

Step four, would be to get the heads of the service groups to get the facts and stop making baseless claims that most of them are fakers. Yes, some officers still believe this. They don't have a clue that it takes a lot of work to get these veterans to seek help in the first place. While there are some looking for an easy ride the rest of their lives, they are the minority. There are more not seeking help who need it and deserve it than there are those who don't.

Step five, would be to make sure all family members know what PTSD is. As we reach families with the knowledge they need to help the veteran, more and more families are provided with the coping tools they need to hold the family together as well as help the veteran to heal. If they don't understand it, then they become an adversary and make situations impossible to live with.

What we see is a continuation of more of the same problem we saw after Vietnam. Homelessness is a part of it because the majority have PTSD while others have duel issues going on like addiction coupled with PTSD instead of simply self-medicating. We have complex problems even when veterans only have mild PTSD because they cannot find jobs and this extra stress adds to the issues with PTSD. Self-medicating usually leads to crimes; violence, domestic abuse, drunk driving, drug deals, the list goes on. Not all self-medicating veterans will commit crimes but face committing suicide instead.

None of this has to happen at all and that is the saddest part of all. Every time we see a homeless veteran, there is a family that fell apart before it happened. Want to reduce the number of homeless veterans? Then reduce the number of shattered families with giving them the knowledge they need to stay together and help each other.
Chaplain Kathie

SOLUTIONS/BASSUK:
Ending homelessness among returning war veterans

By Dr. Ellen L. Bassuk

In a country as affluent as ours, no one should be homeless. Yet veterans who have served their country account for one-third of adult individuals who are homeless in America.

On any night, more than 130,000 veterans find themselves with no place to call home. Seven percent are women. Ending veteran homelessness starts with understanding why they become homeless.

At its core, homelessness is caused by a gap between income and the cost of housing. Given the diminished stock of affordable housing, people at the bottom of the wage scale are at greatest risk for homelessness. A minimum-wage worker cannot earn enough to pay for a two-bedroom dwelling anywhere in the United States.

Despite greater opportunities for education and training that arise from their military service, many veterans also struggle to make ends meet. Researchers report that nearly half a million veterans pay more than 50 percent of their income for rent.
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Ending homelessness among returning war veterans

VETERANS MIDWEST WRITING WORKSHOP

Emma Rainy (MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop) is gathering several writers, poets and play writes to put on a workshop for emerging writers over the winter break at Iowa. We want to spread the word that this course is free and hope to supplement the food and accommodations of the students over the weekend.
Any assistance you can provide in getting the word out to veterans who want to write would be great! We are on a very short timeline

Registration is online at the site below

VETERANS MIDWEST WRITING WORKSHOP

@ The University of IOWA

January 15-17, 2010

Open to all current and former military personal

Midwest writing workshop

We each have a story to tell. And this free weekend writing workshop will help you learn how to tell it well. By using writing exercises to explore wartime experiences-the fear, the boredom, anxieties, thrills, brutality and tears-we learn how to write a story and make it compelling. Workshop participants will explore the many approaches one can take to writing about the self and will produce personnel stories by the end of the weekend. Opportunities to read each other's work (both as a class "workshop" and one-on-one with professional writers) as well as a two-week online follow up, will help continue the writing and revising process. No writing experience is needed to attend this workshop.

Where: University of Iowa campus, Iowa City, Iowa

When: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, January 15-17

starting at 7:00pm
This workshop is FREE! (Free lunches will be provided Saturday and Sunday)


What you'll need: A pen, pad of paper (or laptop)


Contact information:

Emma Rainey, MFA Nonfiction Writing Program
641-919-2654

John D. Mikelson, Veterans Advisor
University of Iowa Veterans Center

Suicide may be tied to James Arthur Ray Event

CNN's Gary Tuchman reports on a death at a James Arthur Ray event ten weeks before the sweat lodge.

WWII Medal of Honor Veteran can keep flag pole!

Senator: MoH recipient can keep flagpole

The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Dec 9, 2009 11:00:58 EST

RICHMOND, Va. — A 90-year-old Medal of Honor winner can keep his 21-foot flagpole in his front yard after a homeowner’s association dropped its request to remove it, a spokesman for Democratic Virginia Sen. Mark Warner said Tuesday.

The Sussex Square homeowners’ association likewise has agreed to drop threats to take legal action against retired Army Col. Van T. Barfoot, Warner spokesman Kevin Hall said.

The association had threatened to take Barfoot, a Mississippi native, to court if he failed to remove the pole from his suburban Richmond home by Friday. It had said the pole violated the neighborhood’s aesthetic guidelines.

Neither Barfoot’s daughter, Margaret Nicholls, nor homeowners’ president Glenn Wilson immediately returned telephone messages.
read more here
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_army_moh_recipient_flagpole_120909/

PTSD on Trail, combat claims disputed in double murder charges

PTSD comes only one way and that is after traumatic events. It does change the way people think, react and feel about others as well as themselves.

This article says Spc. Hunter did not see combat or any deaths of anyone in his unit this time but it does not say what happened on the other deployment that could have caused PTSD. It does not say if there were civilians killed when Spc. Hunter was in the area or not. As we all know from reports, bombs are still blowing up civilians in Iraq. We should not totally dismiss PTSD yet until everything is reported. If Hunter was not exposed to any traumatic events the his use of it to defend himself against a double murder charge is beneath contempt. PTSD does not let anyone off the hook for crimes they commit but it would have to be taken into account when deciding what justice is in each case. Too many of our veterans suffering from PTSD never commit crimes and never harm anyone. The veterans committing crimes are rare and this is something the media should take into account whenever they report on a story like this.

MURDER SUSPECT'S COMBAT CLAIMS DISPUTED
ARMY CHECKING: Deployed unit had no deaths, injuries
By JOANNA RICHARDS
TIMES STAFF WRITER
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2009

FORT DRUM — Officials from the Army base are looking into the veracity of claims that Spc. Joshua Hunter, the military policeman accused this week of killing two fellow soldiers, experienced trauma during his Iraq deployment.

Some of the soldier's family members said this week that the 20-year-old military policeman had returned from a recent deployment mentally disturbed. Emily Hunter, his wife, told the Associated Press, "He saw his best friend get blown up to pieces and he tried to put him back together. He was never right after that."

But the unit Spc. Hunter deployed with experienced no combat deaths or even injuries during its 15-month Iraq deployment that ended in mid-2009, although it had two non-combat related deaths, said Maj. Frederick C. Harrell, a spokesman for the 10th Mountain Division.

"We're looking into whether his statements are true or not," Maj. Harrell said. "There's questions on it, so we've just got to answer the questions."
read more here
Deployed unit had no deaths, injuries