After trudging back from overseas, veterans in New York have a lot on their plate. One of which, noted New York City council members Monday, is a higher percentage of homelessness.
“They were trained to be warriors, but not to be citizens, returning home to be members of society,” said Linda Crowley, of Military Families Speak Out.
The Committee on General Welfare convened with the Committee on Veterans and released a report. They found that more information was needed to clarify the situations of homeless veterans out there.
A resolution requesting state legislation for a study on female homeless veterans is currently pending.
Veterans are vulnerable to a host of problems, including food insecurity and hunger.
Younger veterans are more likely than older vets to be unemployed.
Overlapping statistics suggest that disabled veterans are even more likely to suffer from food insecurity.
Additionally, many veterans must deal with psychological trauma. A significant percentage of veterans who served in wartime have had post-traumatic stress disorder in their lifetime.
For females, 23 percent of those using federal health care reported being sexually assaulted.
The problems plaguing veterans then trickle down to their families, the committee report found.
“When one or both parents are deployed abroad, the pain of separation can often lead to setbacks in school performance,” the report stated about veterans’ children.
Congressman Charles Rangel testified in City Hall Monday, saying, “Critics say, ’this is not a city council, a state problem, it’s a federal problem.'”
He then retorted, “It’s all of our problems. We have a special obligation to those warriors that protect our democracy.”
