COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Leaving Military: General
For some vets, a home isn't waiting
More local veterans are returning to find they have no place to live
and little help to remedy plight
BY CASSI FELDMAN, Newsday
November 13, 2005
After 10 months of washing laundry and setting up showers in Iraq,
Army reservist Wanda Borders couldn't wait to get back to the Bronx.
She figured she'd stay with her grandmother for a few months until she
found a place of her own.
But without a paycheck, landing an apartment in New York's tight
rental market proved nearly impossible. For more than a year, she and
her young children bounced among relatives' homes, often sleeping on
couches or floors.
"It's very frustrating, not being able to support my family the way I
would want to, depending on other people for everything," Borders said.
Borders is part of a small but troubling trend: Local veterans
returning from Afghanistan and Iraq with no place to live and not
enough support services to find a home.
Two years ago, Black Veterans for Social Justice, a Brooklyn-based
agency, had seen only a few homeless vets from the War on Terror. Now
it's logged approximately 60 with serious housing needs, at least six
of whom spent time in homeless shelters.
"With Vietnam, you did not see homeless veterans during the
conflict,"
said Ricky Singh, director of the agency's Homeless Veterans
Reintegration Program. "What's alarming is the conflict is still in
progress and you're already seeing reported cases of homelessness. This
is something new."
Psychological stress
While the numbers probably reflect better outreach, Singh said, they
also hint at trouble to come.
For one thing, he said, many soldiers are serving multiple terms with
uncertain end dates, making it harder to hold onto a home. They also
show early signs of psychological strain, a risk factor for
homelessness. A 2004 survey found that one in six Iraq war vets
suffered from depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder.
What's more, a vast number are economically vulnerable to start with.
Data released this month by the National Priorities Project, a
nonpartisan research group, shows that 2004 military enrollment in New
York drew heavily from low-income areas like the South Bronx and East
Harlem.
Upon return, some vets find that their military duties don't
translate
readily into civilian jobs. In New York City alone, the state
Department of Labor reports that nearly 900 vets released from service
in the past four years have applied for unemployment insurance.
"There's a set of economic and social conditions that push an
18-year-old to see the military as an opportunity to go to college and
see the world," Singh said. "When you return home, the economic
conditions that caused you to see it that way haven't changed. Your
parents haven't gotten richer. And your room isn't there anymore."
Those who do crash with friends or relatives may still technically be
"homeless," depending on the situation. The federal definition
encompasses anyone who "lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime
residence."
Borders is a case in point. Long before she was deployed, she
grappled
with homelessness and spent 2 1/2 years in a shelter. She finally found
a job at a clothing store - right before she was called for duty. A
year later, when she came back from Iraq, the modest gains she'd made
were lost.
"Everybody has the stickers on their cars: Support our troops," said
Borders, 26. "Now that we're back home, they should do it."
Borders receives $108 per month in disability benefits from the U.S.
Department of Veterans Affairs for a back injury, but when it came to
finding an apartment to rent, the agency was little help, she said.
When asked about housing assistance, VA officials point to the Home
Loan Guaranty program that helps veterans secure mortgages without a
down payment.
At the other end of the spectrum, the agency spends roughly $100
million annually on homeless programs geared toward veterans in
shelters or on the streets. Yet its housing commitment hasn't kept up
with the need: Although the VA estimates that 193,000 veterans are
homeless each night, its community-based housing program funds just
10,000 beds.
Pete Dougherty, director of Homeless Veterans Programs for the VA,
acknowledges that low-cost housing would help prevent a surge in
homelessness. But he considers that a job for the U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development. "We just don't have the legislative
authority," he said.
In fact, the two agencies already have a program that provided rental
vouchers and services for a small group of veterans, but HUD has funded
no new vouchers since 2001 because of budget constraints. In March, the
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans proposed a new HUD/VA housing
program for low-income vets, but has yet to find a congressional
sponsor.
Programs for vets
In the meantime, community organizations are left to plug the gap.
Here in New York, Operation Truth, an advocacy group, and Common Ground
Community, a local nonprofit, recently launched Hope for New Veterans,
a housing and employment program. With funding from private
foundations, they hope to house 60 veterans in the next 12 months.
"We're going to try to pre-empt veterans' struggles if they are in
danger of becoming homeless," said J.B. White, a former Marine from
Mississippi who runs the program. He said he was intrigued by the
opportunity to help other soldiers navigate the transition to civilian
life.
"My role will be something of a coach," he said. "Getting people to
their appointments, doing the grassroots work. The VA is not going to
do that."
Just ask Franklin Aguilar. When the Army combat engineer finished his
two tours building bridges in Iraq, he counted on having $11,000 in
separation pay to start over. First order of business: A trip to
Nicaragua, so his mother-in-law could see the grandchildren she had
never met. Then he wanted to buy a house in Louisiana or Tennessee and
become a police officer. But when mistaken overpayments wiped out his
separation pay and final paycheck, he ended up taking his wife and two
children to live in one room of his parents' house in Sunset Park.
Desperate for help, Aguilar turned to Black Vets for Social Justice
and was referred to Hope for New Veterans, as was Borders. Both were
found eligible for three-month housing subsidies.
Borders has just found an apartment, not far from her grandmother's,
to share with her 5-year-old, 4-year-old and newborn. Aguilar and his
family have moved into a refurbished two-bedroom on Staten Island with
bay windows and an above-ground pool. Both say they are thankful for
the new digs, but worried about what will happen when the subsidies run
out. Job hunts so far have been fruitless.
"I feel like half a man now that I've got my own apartment, but I'll
feel like a real man when I can pay for it myself," Aguilar said. "I'm
thinking about joining the Marines."
Cassi Feldman is a freelance writer.
Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.
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2005-11-18
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