Veterans: Over 13% of residents are veterans who have served our country, but who are struggling to stay on their feet. Many are not getting the benefits they are entitled to under law. We help veterans process the paperwork so that they can receive the medical and financial assistance they deserve.
Women: Approximately 30% of the people that walk through our doors are women. The issues homeless women face around safety and security are different from those facing men.
Have mental health problems :
There are estimates that nearly 40% of the homeless population suffers from some kind of mental illness. The Ready to Work program leaders see this statistic reflected in our clients, most of whom either don’t know they are ill or are unaware of services that can help them. The program has a mental health outreach worker who meets with people oneonone. They also have group counseling through their weekly HOPE Group. We provide funds for psychiatric prescriptions and work with their partners at Clinica and Mental Health Partners to get people the services they need. https://plus.google.com/u/0/+JohnBurgreen/posts/PLhbQm5wzDX
Opinions outside of the Bridge House Data:
When I was homeless, the shelter I was in had an area expressly for the veterans. I talked to a few and found out that our American Veterans are treated badly by the government. Those veteran benefits were always hearing about, can take years to work for the veterans. Many of them are injured and can't work, most of them have the family, but are too ashamed to stay with them as they don't want to be a burden. Some of them have to stay at a homeless shelter until their benefits check is approved, after that, most of them can get out of the shelter and have their own home. Some of them are fighting demons and have for years until the Veteran Affairs approves their treatment plan, all they can do is fight the demons all alone. They do have a pretty good set up, they have a room with only one roommate, they can cook their own food in the community kitchen they have, even if they have a tendency to start fire's in the kitchen, they get to keep their cooking privileges, they can sleep all day if they so desire, they can leave and come back at will, and the rest of the residents in the shelter recognize their sacrifice and always give them the absolute respect they deserve. Once they get the resources they need to establish their lives, most of them come back and those of us that were friends with them when they had nothing, are rewarded tremendously. None of us befriend them for any other reason than the fact that they don't deserve this hand that life has dealt them.
This answer is speculative - my opinions. Vets are a small segment - 12% (NCHV) - of the homeless population. Income Class and military rank are correlated and always have been. Low initial income makes people more willing to join up; if the recruit is unsophisticated, there is "patriotic pressure" with a structure, free room, and board. But drones are replacing all that.
Increasing inequality and violence are routes to dystopia: I do not know what patriotism means anymore - even how to interpret what people who wave American flags are trying to say - because our society is so fractured into parts. Our country cannot even decide what to argue about. Imagine how hard it is to defend a huge area when its citizens are so dis-united! Robots and technology can fight "wars," but think how cowardly that is when the victims can't defend themselves.
In this context, when you join the military you don't just become a soldier. You agree to become an instrument for the policies of the US government. They don't really stress that you're giving up your freedom to make counterfactual decisions. It's assumed you're either aimless-and-poor or "Captain America." Anyway, the true motive is not clear?
Since a lot of people who served saw combat, Gulf War eg., there may have been injury - eg., PTSD, which complicates the reverse-culture-shock, they feel that cannot fit in after their experiences, but the street is welcoming, maybe the freedom, and contacts.The Veteran's Administration tries to help with physical ailments, but it is perhaps the worst bureaucracy in Washington. Much of the population rejected USA military involvement in Vietnam; many draftees were seen as "damaged" on their return. My guess is that fewer WWII soldiers - as the percent of all returnees - became street people upon their return - because WWII was fought for more tangible goals (people really thought our way of life was at stake, that Hitler would attack, that we were defending our homeland, etc.).
Leaving military life there is also the income loss and the requirement to "re-enter" society which can be very stressful.
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from Ready to Work Boulder https://www.reddit.com/r/readytoworkboulder/comments/4s6q9i/13_of_boulder_bridge_house_residents_are_veterans/
via the best Colorado work program
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