Veteran homelessness increasing

It's no surprise to U.S. Air Force veteran Earl Sanders that, according to a report to be released today, Nevada has the fifth highest rate of homelessness among veterans in the United States.

After all, he said, Nevada is a state full of habit-forming vices: gambling, drinking, drugs. And veterans like him are particularly vulnerable.

"We have unique problems, and we carry a lot of baggage," said the 47-year-old who lives in a Las Vegas shelter for homeless vets.

He added, "You can lose your job, your home, your family in the blink of an eye."

The new report, "Vital Mission: Ending Homelessness Among Veterans," also states that Nevada has the third highest rate in the nation of veterans who are experiencing severe housing cost burden, defined as paying more than 50 percent of one's income toward rent or housing costs.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness, which compiled the report using data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Census Bureau, says housing cost burden is the biggest predictor of homelessness.

The alliance is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group whose mission is to prevent and end homelessness in the United States.

Its report also didn't surprise many local service providers who work with homeless vets.

Veterans are homeless here for the same reason other people are, said Marsha Evans, program manager for the Department of Veterans Affairs' local Community Based Outreach Clinic.

"They come to work, and they believe there's a lot of opportunities here," she said.

What they don't know is that much of that work is minimum wage or exclusively part-time, said Greg Abernathy, a social worker with the clinic.

"If you already don't have any money and you have meager skills, you don't have the resources to get employment and you're not going to have a place to stay."

Abernathy added that there's a drastic shortage of affordable housing in Southern Nevada.

According to the report, about 4,700 homeless veterans lived in Nevada in 2006.

Locals who work with veterans, however, believe there are about that many homeless vets in Southern Nevada alone.

Nationally, 195,827 veterans were homeless on any given night in 2006, the report states.

While veterans make up only 11 percent of the general adult population, they now make up one in four homeless people in the United States.

It's not just a problem for older veterans, either. Those who work with vets say they're seeing young veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq becoming homeless.

"We see veterans from every conflict," Evans said. "We're starting to see an influx of Iraqi vets."

Veterans Affairs has identified 1,500 homeless veterans nationally from the current wars.

Some advocates for the homeless say such an early presence of veterans from those wars at shelters does not bode well for the future. It took roughly a decade for the lives of Vietnam vets to unravel to the point that they started showing up among the homeless. Advocates worry that intense and repeated deployments leave newer veterans particularly vulnerable.

The report blames veterans' homelessness on health issues, economic hardship and a lack of affordable housing -- the same things that factor into homelessness in the general population.

But veterans face additional challenges: prolonged separation from family and friends, skills that may not transfer to civilian jobs, and highly stressful training and occupational demands that can affect their personalities.

Sanders said many veterans block out painful experiences or choose to deal with them through substance abuse or other self-destructive behaviors.

The alliance says about 70 percent of homeless veterans suffer from substance abuse problems.

"We've been through war," Sanders said. "A lot of times there's little or no counseling available, and it's just a matter of time until things are going to come out. There's alcohol, gambling, and nightlife here, a combination of things that can send a guy over the edge."

Once there, he said, "there's not a lot of help for a guy."

Sanders, a former aircraft mechanic who served two tours of duty during Operation Desert Storm and was once stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, found himself in similar trouble in recent years.

"I was doing lots of gambling, drinking and drugs," he said. "Before I knew it I was living in weekly hotels and hanging out with raunchy people."

Sanders finally decided he needed help, and reached out to U.S. Vets, a local shelter that houses up to 268 men and is usually full.

"Now, life consists of getting up in the morning, praying, and taking care of my fellow vets," he said. "These guys are my family."

The national alliance recommends that 5,000 housing units be created per year for the next five years for the chronically homeless across the nation, and calls for that permanent housing to be linked to veterans' support systems. It also recommends funding an additional 20,000 housing vouchers exclusively for homeless veterans and creating a program that helps bridge the gap between income and rent.

Implementing the recommendations would cost billions of dollars.

Many of those who work with homeless vets feel investing more in the veterans' futures is important.

"These are vets who have served their country," Evans said. "We have to understand that at some point in time these individuals were highly functional and committed and then something happened."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0285.