And, one fact that is not at the forefront of people’s minds when thinking about homelessness is the amount of VETERANS who are homeless. According to National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, 23% of all homeless persons are veterans.  Almost 1 in 4 homeless persons served our country and protected our right to live ANYWHERE that we want to live, build any kind of house we want, and to be free in doing so.

It is estimated that there are 700 homeless veterans throughout our Marion County community.  These are 700 people who sacrificed a portion of their lives to serve OUR community.

HealthNet’s Homeless Initiative Program (HIP) has a Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) which is a source for comprehensive veterans’ services.  This program is helping homeless veterans everyday who have fallen to low points because of either Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, an inability to adjust back to civilian life, or started off well and came upon a tragedy.

There are many reasons why people become homeless, but there should not be a reason why we cannot support at the VERY LEAST those who made a sacrifice to fight for our freedoms. Danny Fenster, who writes for change.org ‘s End Homelessness blog, gives information on the End Homlessness Act of 2010.  Through this act, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are able to work hand in hand with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to “provide assistance to homeless veterans in accessing HUD’s Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program.”

You can help too! Help provide homeless veterans with services by visiting HealthNet’s donation page and considering a small donation of $25 to pay for a nutrition pack or a 2-week bus pass.  Help those who PROTECTED us!

Affordable housing is not easy to come by, and the possibility of being evicted and becoming homeless may be enough for a domestic violence victim to feel trapped.  The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced, at the end of October 2010, an advancement in its Violence against Women Act that will help protect domestic abuse victims from being evicted from their affordable housing units.  The advancement, seen here, makes it so that housing managers and owners must exhaust all possibilities of protecting victims before evicting them.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan stated that, “[t]his rule recognizes the need to protect victims of domestic abuse from being evicted just because they were victimized.”

The announcement dropped at a perfect time being at the end of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and advocates were thrilled to hear this because it is not every day that you see a direct effect of raising awareness.   Hearing a victory for advocacy is always a bright side because it gives hope to all organizations and all causes – if people work hard enough for something, then it is possible to see change!

Advocacy for homeless prevention and domestic abuse is seen everyday through HealthNet’s Better Indy Babies, Healthy Families, and Homeless Initiative Programs.  You, too, can be an advocate simply by learning more or donating.  Even a generous $25 to any of these programs will open many doors.