A Hero With No Home

 

Homeless veteran with a sign saying, "Anything Helps". https://www.klcc.org/military-veterans/2024-11-11/despite-initiatives-and-boots-on-the-ground-efforts-veteran-homelessness-persists-in-oregon

By Mark Lim

In every city, we can see that there are many homeless that are by the side of the roads, under bridges, next to building, and many other areas. Some may wonder how they got there, what substances they are using, or even if the person is okay. What many people also question is, "what happened to this person? What is their background?" When people ask these questions and get to know the person, we can see that there are many homeless veterans. Unfortunately, many veterans end up on the streets after protecting our country. 

Some may be asking why a veteran is facing homelessness after they gave up years in service. According to, https://caseworthy.com/articles/why-are-so-many-veterans-homeless/ many veterans end up becoming homeless because of mental health challenges. Some of these challenges are because of frequent relocation, distance from loved ones, stress from serving, and many more. These actions take a toll on their mental health and causes them to deteriorate. When this snowballs, it can turn into depression, anxiety, and even further, drug abuse. Another reason that veterans become homeless is because not all are able to secure a job after finishing their service. This combined with unafforable homes, make it impossible for them to escape homelessness. 

I believe that no veterans should be facing homelessness or be on the risk of homelessness. As people who have risked their lives to protect us and the nation, there is no excuse to not take care of them. To take action against this, we can help by supporting nonprofits, volunteering, and making housing more affordable. To do this we must encourage mental support for veterans and bring awareness to this issue. You can support these veterans here: https://www.va.gov/homeless/