Dear Next President,

Seeing on what has been going on around the nation, I believe that people being homeless is a big issue. There have been many reports of homeless men and women who unfortunately can not or don’t have the capability to support themselves. There has been much talk and discussion on this issue, but not much has been done about it.

As many people do not see it, many of these homeless men and women are veterans. They are people who have fought for us, and sadly we repay them with nothing. And many of these veterans develop PTSD, so it's not healthy to be on the streets. Greendoors Homes Through Community Partnership states, “ The vast majority of homeless veterans (96%) are single males from poor, disadvantaged communities.” That is a very high number of homeless veterans! “In 2010, the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) estimated that on any given night there were 76,000 homeless veterans sleeping on American streets.” This being said, we have people who have done so much for us slowly dieing on the streets, not even being cared for.

This can also tie in with health issues. There are so many health issues that have not been solved especially for these veterans. For an example mental health and vaccines. These are problems that many homeless peoples are facing. They do not have the right vaccines and are causing diseases that affect these people in harmful ways. Many of these veterans have been to many contaminated countries and unfortunately carry along diseases that affect them in the later run. Lastly, is their mental health. Many of these veterans come back with PTSD or or mental health issues. The Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research states, “ Two-thirds of homeless Iraq and Afghanistan veterans in one major sample had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — a much higher rate than in earlier cohorts of homeless veterans, who have PTSD rates between 8 percent and 13 percent” I believe that through all of the research and studies, homeless veterans should be more recognized and start having health checks and more support from the citizens.

So as future president I would like to see if you can change the way many of these homeless veterans are treated and help create houses and proper health care for them. These veterans have fought for us and grievously do not get what they deserve. They fight for us, we pay them back with proper care.

Sincerely,

Shantell Gonzalez