14% of young veterans are unemployed. That means in New York City, an estimated 17,300 veterans are unemployed. Unemployment among New York City veterans increased by an estimated 4,700 over the last year.
The number of military veterans who are homeless in the New York City metropolitan area is nearly 10,000 according to Senator Charles Schumer.
Add to that, support programs for homeless veterans face funding shortages.
Veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq are falling into homelessness sooner than those from other wars. Many of these men and women also face physical disability as well as mental trauma. It can be a huge uphill climb adjusting to life outside the military with no support or possibility of employment.
Last week we celebrated Veteran’s Day. Senator Schumer took that day to announce his backing of new legislation entitled “Homes for Heroes”. This three-point plan aims to overhaul homeless programs for vets by increasing funding for homeless veteran services, not only including emergency housing, but also permanent housing for low-income veterans.
The bill authorizes a $200 million assistance program for community and nonprofit organizations to purchase, build or rehabilitate housing for low-income veterans. The legislation would expand the highly successful HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program, authorizing 20,000 vouchers annually through fiscal year 2013, and making the program permanent.
Schumer will also push for $75 million in new funding for veteran’s homelessness programs that is included in the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bill. This funding will authorize 10,000 new vouchers to provide rental assistance coupled with supportive services or homeless veterans.
Hopefully Schumer’s words will turn into action as these veterans need our help. We’ll keep you posted the progress of this funding.
