Major hurdles remain to end veteran homelessness

Major hurdles remain to end veteran homelessness - Yahoo! News

CHULA VISTA, Calif. (AP) — Arthur Lute's arduous journey from his days as a U.S. Marine to his nights sleeping on the streets illustrates the challenge for the Obama administration to fulfill its promise to end homelessness among veterans by 2015.


Lute has post-traumatic stress disorder from the 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon. He spent years drifting through jobs, two years in prison for assault, then 15 months sleeping in the bushes outside the police department of this city south of San Diego.


Today, he lives in a $1,235 a month, two-bedroom apartment in a working-class neighborhood. The federal government pays nearly 80 percent of the rent and mostly covers the cost of medicines for his depression, high blood pressure, and other health problems. State-funded programs pay for doctor's appointments for his 6-month-old son and therapy for his wife, who he said is bipolar.


Lute receives a Social Security check and food stamps. A Department of Veterans Affairs case manager communicates with him regularly and helps avert crises, like when Lute's electric bill jumped in an August heat wave and he couldn't afford diapers.

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He's had 29 years to get on his feet and has spent most of it being a criminal or one of the leaches we so often hear about. What's his excuse for not getting a job like the rest of us? Oh, that's right, he just wants to take from the 'makers'. Will Obama fix this? Why not? 'Murica.

/sarcasm aside.

The conditions this guy is living under are disgraceful.

Hatuey said:

Major hurdles remain to end veteran homelessness - Yahoo! News



He's had 29 years to get on his feet and has spent most of it being a criminal or one of the leaches we so often hear about. What's his excuse for not getting a job like the rest of us? Oh, that's right, he just wants to take from the 'makers'. Will Obama fix this? Why not? 'Murica.

/sarcasm aside.

The conditions this guy is living under are disgraceful.

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quite a sad display,you compare the war heros in which many are insane to those who choose not to be productive.

many came from vietnam unable to cope with society,and i support them being taken care of.problem is that care has been available for decades,but someone unable to cope with society is also unable to grasp welfare and other programs.this is a failure on the governments part to identify those in which they created,and to properly help them.vietnam vets live under bridges,beg formoney yet qualifyfor [permanent welfare and disability dueto ental illness brought on by war,but thr ptoblem is they refuse to trust government,because that government brought them towhere they are now.


so for veterans homeless,all the programs exist,and no matter how much liberal rhetoric is thrown around,they refuse help from a government that left them that way.if politicians wanted to hep them,they would focus on trying to convince them to take the help and improve theirlives,rather than throwing around some blame game.

beerftw said:

quite a sad display,you compare the war heros in which many are insane to those who choose not to be productive.

many came from vietnam unable to cope with society,and i support them being taken care of.problem is that care has been available for decades,but someone unable to cope with society is also unable to grasp welfare and other programs.this is a failure on the governments part to identify those in which they created,and to properly help them.vietnam vets live under bridges,beg formoney yet qualifyfor [permanent welfare and disability dueto ental illness brought on by war,but thr ptoblem is they refuse to trust government,because that government brought them towhere they are now.


so for veterans homeless,all the programs exist,and no matter how much liberal rhetoric is thrown around,they refuse help from a government that left them that way.if politicians wanted to hep them,they would focus on trying to convince them to take the help and improve theirlives,rather than throwing around some blame game.

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We just finished build for a disabled veteran with Square Foot Ministries. A great organization and a great cause. The real shame of it is that it exists at all. The guy getting the house served 11 years, served in two wars and is now suffering from a degerative nerve issue that will likely land him in a wheelchair. Our government isn't helping him.

tech30528 said:

We just finished build for a disabled veteran with Square Foot Ministries. A great organization and a great cause. The real shame of it is that it exists at all. The guy getting the house served 11 years, served in two wars and is now suffering from a degerative nerve issue that will likely land him in a wheelchair. Our government isn't helping him.

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wel the govt does offer help,but like i said they offer but do nothing else.
they expect a guy emotianally screwed in the head and fully unable to cope with society to understand how to use the welfare or va system.in reality someone that screwed up should be ther govts job to help them along,since it was them who left them that way.

we have the programs,but until we helpthose who cant help themselkves due due mental damage caused by our wars.those mentally disables vets wont recieve help/

We have huge problems dealing with mental illness that will get worse with time. I am not sure if it is because we have gutted institutions or if it because families are not just helping take care of their own as much as they used to. Dumping them on disability checks and jails isn't the solution though.

if he has service connected ptsd, he is eligible for VA compensation, to the tune of about $3000 a month, but given his condition as described, that money is being handled by a fiduciary in his behalf. Between that and social security, it is quite a bit of money.

beerftw said:

wel the govt does offer help,but like i said they offer but do nothing else.
they expect a guy emotianally screwed in the head and fully unable to cope with society to understand how to use the welfare or va system.in reality someone that screwed up should be ther govts job to help them along,since it was them who left them that way.

we have the programs,but until we helpthose who cant help themselkves due due mental damage caused by our wars.those mentally disables vets wont recieve help/

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Well this guy is not mentally disabled. He has several discs blown out in his back. He and his wife and their youngest son have been living in a 26 foot motor home for 2 years while he has been in school training up to a better career, and he doesn't complain about it. I think he deals with it the way he does because he doesn't want to believe that our government would do that to him and people like him. If you ask him about it he will tell you about guys in his unit who are much worse off than he is.

My point is that there have to be volunteer organizations to take care of people like this and there shouldn't need to be. I think its disgusting that he doesn't at least get his medical needs covered for free. He gets some help from the VA but not enough. He used to be a body builder and physical therapist, but has had to look in to other fields because these days he can barely walk unassisted and it's getting worse. But hey, as long as we can get those Obama phones out there, who cares about veterans, right? Let's just go ahead and cut military spending even further so we can give more stuff to potential voters.

This is a huge reason why i support a right to a job kinda thing.

Perhaps there are SEVERAL obstacles. Start with his willingness to help himself. Then move to what was a tremendous lack of effective programming throughout thew 70's, 80's and even into the 90's in the VA clinical services. We are still learning about PTSD and how/why it affects some people the way it does. Our VietNam Era vets and GW vets are experiencing PTSD at rates we never encountered before...certainly not in our WW1 and WW2 vets. Add to that the bandaid and bullet hole approach applied to any of our major problems. Oh...and then there is the modern VA. It has MANY problems. Much of the clinical work being done today is by unpaid interns in group settings by college students that cant in any way shape or form relate to their clients. Add to that the mixed messages by the clinical community itself...the message of Seligmanns lifetime diagnosis of PTSD vs Banduras efficacy and self reliance, which models for treatment work best, etc. Or you can add in the cash monster the VA is becoming...gone are the days of a psych unit...today we have psych units, trauma units, crisis units, PTSD clinics, Womens Units and Military Sexual Trauma units. Not to sound too cynical...but theres gold in them thar disabilities.

Lots of reasons. Sometimes it comes down to nothing more than the individual and their unwillingness to change. We have seen soldiers come back with PTSD diagnosis and the focus becomes on the PTSD. What is ignored is the fact they suffered from CLS (crappy life syndrome) before they joined, were already mentally unstable, already had abuse, anger, addiction problems, and then expect once they don the uniform there is this idea that suddenly they become supermen...stellar and unstained ambassadors of the US and above reproach and beyond the troubles and traumas that plague every day average US citizens. Focus on the PTSD and ignore everything else and guess where that gets you? A domestic violence charge, kicked out of your house, and found dead with a hypo in your arm from an intentional heroin overdose.

Lots of reasons.