Dear future president,

I feel that we need to address the growing problem of veteran homelessness. In a recent 2015 survey it revealed that there are currently over 50,000 veterans that are currently homeless, and they make up 10% if the total homeless population. These are the people that have gone overseas and fought for our country; for our freedom, and for our right to live. What are we doing for them? Nothing. We are letting them sit out on the streets, and fend for themselves. Now is that how we Americans honor our heroes?

Some people argue that we shouldn’t help the homeless, that it’s their fault they don’t have a home. Most of the veterans that live out on the streets, it isn’t their faults. Many men and woman come back, after fighting overseas, changed. They’re no longer their former selves because of the things they’ve witnessed and the things they had to do. I am sure you have seen the movie American Sniper. Chris Kyle was forced to kill, to protect his men from perishing. He also had to watch his own men die right before him. Just like Chris Kyle, many veterans developed PTSD. Anything and everything can set them off, which makes being in a working environment very difficult Therefore they lose their jobs and later on become homeless.

Imagine sending one of your loved ones to fight overseas for the greater good. You send them into harm's way, and every day you hope and pray they make it out unscathed. After their tour they return home, but they aren’t themselves. They’re a shadow of their former selves. After awhile they end up on the streets because there was no one there to help them They don’t have any food, water, or shelter. On the streets they wander around aimlessly because they have nowhere to go. They don’t have a home, a job, friends. They’re lost. Would you want your family member out on the streets after they fought so hard for our country? Would you be able to sleep at night in your house knowing that no one is out there helping them?

Therefore I feel we owe our veterans our deepest respect. They do what other people can’t. They volunteered their lives just to save ours. They are the emblem of a true american hero. And what are we going to do? Just let our heroes sit out on the street, alone and unappreciated? It’s time to take a stand for our heroes. They fought for us, it’s time we fight for them.