One crucial aspect of supporting our veterans is ensuring they have safe and adequate housing facilities. Unfortunately, this has not always been the case. Over the past few years, there have been numerous reports of substandard housing conditions in the privatized veteran housing, which have had a considerable impact on the health and well-being of veteran families.

These reports have prompted strong action from advocacy groups, who work tirelessly to ensure that veteran families can access safe and affordable housing. One of the best ways we do this is by raising the awareness about the importance of safe and well-maintained housing for veterans and their families.

Every veteran needs shelter.

Safe housing is not just a simple matter of comfort or convenience – it is a matter of national security. Our veteransneed a safe and secure place to call home to just rest, recharge, and prepare for their missions. Military families living in the pathetic housing conditions can impact their overall health, dignity and well-being and even their capacity to fulfill their duties.

That is why organizations are working to ensure the veteran families have access to safe and well-maintained housing. Advocacy groups advocate for the improved housing standards, highly increased transparency and accountability from the private housing companies, legislation that will make the positive changes and better resources and support for military families struggling with housing issues.

Housing assistance for homeless veterans

• Supportive Services for veteran families supports veterans and their families in finding permanent housing, preventing eviction, obtaining documentation, securing benefits (SSI or VA), and increasing skills and income. We provide case management to identify the barriers and connect them with the community around like the immediate needs, employment, health care, child care services, legal aid, personal financial planning, and transportation.

Factors that affect homelessness

Issues that compound the lack of affordable housing can include low incomes, health conditions, domestic violence, and racial disparities. Health issues ranging from physical to mental illness and disability can lead to or perpetuate homelessness. Homelessness disproportionately impacts disabled individuals, who are more than twice as likely as the population at large to be homeless. A large share of individuals seeking mental health support or substance abuse treatment that are homeless as well. Veterans also experience homelessness as a result of the impact of multiple or extended deployments on top of the pressures experienced by other Americans. In Asheville, 40% of the people experiencing homelessness are veterans, which is significantly greater than the national veteran homelessness rate of 11%.

Housing facilities can also take care of their comfort and well-being

The veteran women citizens of this country are also victims of violence, sexual abuse, and trauma and hence suffer from several mental health issues. They also suffer from substance abuse problems. Their condition worsens in the absence of a safe shelter and place to live the rest of their lives after retiring from the military. This makes housing for female veterans a need of the hour.

Nearly half a million (467,877) veterans are severely rent-burdened and pay more than 50% of their income for rent. More than half (55%) of veterans with severe housing cost burdens fell below the poverty level, and 43% received food stamps. Statistics also reveal that almost 53% of individual homeless veterans have disabilities, compared with 41%of homeless non-veteran individuals. These startling facts remind women veterans are in a vulnerable state in the United States, and all they need is a safe, comfortable and respectable place they can call their own- their home.