No Home for the Brave

 

 

 

 

Homelessness is one of the many issues that occur to many military veterans. Though veterans are less than 8 percent of the population, past studies has shown that veterans make up about 20 percent of Americans without stable living. No one, let alone those that risked their lives to protect our country should be in the position of not having a permanent home of going to. But what is the cause of so many veterans being homeless? The answer is simpler than what you think.

          Now many would think post-traumatic stress, brain injuries and drug abuse are the main factors to the homelessness problems of those veterans. But the mismanagement of money, has been the pitfall that many have become victim to, and potentially is the easiest problem to address.

            Researchers from the University of North Carolina and Duke University, recently found that of a 1,000 of veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan era, one-third of them has gone over their credit limit, written a bad check or been contacted by a collection agency. The median income for that group of veterans was $50,000, so the financial problems they were inheriting weren’t due to low-income.

            One solution to this epidemic amongst veterans is the military providing financial education to those serving. For at least the first three years of their service, military workers should be required to attend a seminar of some sorts that educates them on how to properly manage their money. They could teach them how to create a budget, avoid financial scams, and balancing a checkbook. But the financial education should not stop at the beginning of their service, post-term classes should be offered for free to those veterans to inform them how to preserve and smartly invest their money after leaving the service.

            Veteran Affairs has found that homeless veterans are six times more like to consider suicide than those who are financially stable. This is even more of a reason why the lack of monetary competence should no longer be an issue that is ignored and be addressed soon to help keep our veterans in a home.

A Helping Hand Goes So Far

With the government going into a shutdown, President Barack Obama quickly signed a partial-spending bill that would ensure active-duty of the military would get paid during the length of the shutdown.

           

            But what about those government workers who are not in uniform? They still have bills to pay, food to buy, and rent or mortgage that is due to keep a roof over their head. Who will give a helping hand to those furloughed, yet are still under the employment umbrella of the government?

           

            Well many businesses in the Washington, DC has decided to offer a few discount/free to those workers. Bar owners has offered free drinks, restaurant chefs opening two hour windows for free sandwiches everyday of the shutdown and more have come to the forefront of lending a helping hand of those workers.

 

            But that helping hand can only go so far. A family can't pay their rent with a sandwich or their favorite vodka drink. At some point the water level of this shut down, will eventually be too much for these furloughed to swim in. If the shut down continues beyond the means of the workers- what will the government do? These freebies, though a good deed by those that offered, is not enough. At some point, those that are in business with these furloughed workers should be allowed to cut them some slack.

 

            Personally, I believe that if the government shut down goes beyond two months, those government workers that were furloughed, should receive assistance of their own. It's unfair that those who are in charge of deciding when the shutdown, are continue to receive a paycheck and live their normal lives, while those who are impacted by the decision, lives continue to be in limbo. So if the government is able to take thousands of job from people due to failure of making an agreement. An agreement should at least be made to provide for those that would be impacted from their decision. No, they're not at the same level of active-duty members who should continue receiving a paycheck during this time. But, they are still people who agreed to work for the government, and in turn - should be supported by their employer at this time. Whether, it is vowing to paying the monthly spending that those workers have to make for housing, or supplying food and other needs for free. The government must make a stand for their employees, instead of leaving a large group people out to fend for themselves.