Housing/Experiencing Homelessness News
Augusta Home for Homeless Female Veterans Nears Completion
Thursday, April 13, 2017 | Category: Housing/Experiencing Homelessness - Maine
The Betsy Ann Ross House of Hope hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony on April 13, 2017. The house will be a safe home for a total of eight women veterans and their children. Founder Martha St. Pierre is focusing on completion of the first floor in the near future and then, welcoming the first two women veterans in need of transitional housing. When opened, the Home will be the sole home in Maine serving only women veterans and their children who are either experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. With a permanent address, it becomes much easier to connect veterans, and maintain that connection, with Department of Veterans Affairs services and benefits program managers, State of Maine veteran employment and education centers, and partner with other state and community agencies. Financial literacy, healthy cooking, and other personal support will be offered.
Opportunity to Take Survey in "Down for the Count: Women Veterans Likely Underestimated in Federal Homelessness Figures"
Thursday, April 13, 2017 | Category: Housing/Experiencing Homelessness - National
This is the sixth and final article in a grant-funded series penned by Lily Casura. She encourages women veterans to take the included survey to inform future initiatives. The previous five articles in addition to an interactive map of homeless women veteran stories, a developing national directory accepting input from anyone who knows of homes for women veterans experiencing homelessness, and a podcast are linked at the end of this piece.
How many women veterans are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness across the nation? Like homeless men, no one has a definitive count, but the women's count is significantly more precarious for a number of reasons. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) officially included a question asking women if they served in the military in 2012, which was then used for the first time in their January 2013 annual point-in-time survey. A similar question was used by HUD for years when counting homeless males, a reflection of the nation's bias and awareness of both men's and women's military service. Other factors include the availability of volunteers in counties to assist with annual counts, what time of the year counts are conducted, counter bias, and where homeless individuals present. Women with and without children, for example, are less likely to go to cogender shelters and sleep outside and more likely to "couch surf" or "double up" with family and friends until no longer welcomed.
The best national count offered today is a wildly variant range from HUD's 2016 report of 3,328 to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimated 14,000 in any given year to 30,000 upwards to 41,000+ based on 2013 VA research that includes assessing the impact of poverty. What everyone agrees on is that women veterans are the fastest growing cohort of homeless people and they are many times more likely to experience homelessness than civilian females.
The challenges are many to include full enfranchisement in the military while serving, a continuing imprecise and unreliable count, government definitions of homelessness (federal law does not allow for "couch surfing"), women veterans are undercounted, underrepresented in research, and underfunded through government agencies. The extraordinary efforts of individual passionate citizens and faith-based organizations nationwide are the primary sources of alternative housing options for this population of homeless women.
Homeless Women Veterans Struggle to Be Seen
Sunday, April 2, 2017 | Category: Housing/Experiencing Homelessness - National
This article offers a limited-time opportunity to complete a university Institutional Review Board-approved survey intended to gather more information about housing challenges women veterans may experience after leaving the military. The fastest growing cohort of homeless veterans are women veterans. This article explores the nation's stereotype of who a homeless veteran is and how this impacts who volunteers approach during annual accounts of homeless persons. Interviews with women veterans indicate that their "invisibility" started while serving in the military and being "discounted" continued after leaving military service. Oregon's Women Veterans Coordinator encourages all to be intentionally inclusive women veterans in all veteran activities. Without representation in media, womens' roles in the military will continue to be marginalized and trivialized. Better responses to housing instability are possible with better research.
New Program for Homeless Women Vets is First of Its Kind in NC
Saturday, April 1, 2017 | Category: Housing/Experiencing Homelessness - North Carolina
The Aura Home in Hendersonville, North Carolina will offer 29 beds in a safe and secure environment for women veterans and their children experiencing homelessness. Alyce Knaflich, Founder, notes that it is the first such home in the state.
The Path Home for Women Veterans (Article 4 of 4-part Series About Women Veteran Homelessness)
Tuesday, February 21, 2017 | Category: Housing/Experiencing Homelessness - National
This article is the fourth (bonus) article in a four-part series titled "Coming Out of the Shadows: Women Veterans and Homelessness," offering more insights and connections to resources. It focuses on the differences between female and male veterans' circumstances leading to unstable housing and/or homelessness (why and when) and their choices once in need of housing. Also addressed are the current challenges of tracking homeless veterans within federal, state, and community institutions, which adversely impacts accurate collection of data. Without a clear understanding of the prevalence of veteran homelessness, funding and services will not follow. Because homeless women veterans do not typically present in the same service provider venues as homeless male veterans, they are less likely to be accounted for and served. Understanding that navigating housing resources continues to be a major barrier, the author of this series provided a housing locator tool (WomenVeteransHousing.com) specific to women veterans with the capacity to add housing information. Other resources are also posted on this site. Many helpful references are linked in this article.
The links to the three articles preceding this fourth "bonus" article, are noted in the last paragraph of this article.
Coming Out of the Shadows: Women Veterans and Homelessness
Tuesday, February 21, 2017 | Category: Housing/Experiencing Homelessness - National
The four-part series titled "Coming Out of the Shadows: Women Veterans and Homelessness" introduces readers to women who volunteered to serve in the military and who at differing points in their lives experienced homelessness. The links to the three articles preceding this fourth "bonus" article, are noted in the last paragraph of this article.
Root causes are explored, agency knowledge and accountability examined, support services highlighted, and pragmatic resources and research references linked, offering valuable insight to potential prevention and intervention opportunities. The author found that there are differences between female and male veterans' circumstances leading to unstable housing and/or homelessness (why and when) and their remediation choices once in need of housing. There are ongoing challenges with accounting for and tracking homeless veterans within federal, state, and community institutions, adversely impacting accurate collection of data. Because homeless women veterans do not typically present in the same service provider venues as homeless male veterans, they are less likely to be accounted for and served. Without a clear understanding of the prevalence of veteran homelessness, funding and services will not follow. Finding housing alternatives continues to be a major barrier.
A housing locator tool is embedded in the fourth article of this series (WomenVeteransHousing.com) specific to women veterans. Information about housing resources can be submitted online.
Camaraderie Offsets Trauma for Women Veterans (Article 3 of 4-part Series About Women Veteran Homelessness)
Tuesday, February 14, 2017 | Category: Housing/Experiencing Homelessness - National
In the third article of this 4-part series, the power of women veterans' peer networks is examined. The "Women Veterans Collaborative" in Los Angeles, California, is an active team of women veterans whose "shoe leather" approach means getting out and about and connecting women veterans experiencing homelessness with services. Their bond is a common mission through action and camaraderie.
A significant percentage of homeless veterans, female and male, are trauma survivors. An "alarming rate" homeless female veterans are military sexual assault and trauma survivors. It is commonly the "elephant in the room" when working with homeless veterans. Male veterans' response to this trauma differs from female veterans. The prevalence of recurring trauma in homeless women veterans' lives is considered "abnormally high." The challenge for those trying to assist is building trust and that is often through camaraderie.
The first two articles of this 4-part series are linked in the last paragraph of this article.
Into the Gap: Women Veterans Describe Homelessness (Article 2 of 4-Part Series About Women Veteran Homelessness)
Tuesday, February 7, 2017 | Category: Housing/Experiencing Homelessness - National
This article is the second in a four-part series titled "Coming Out of the Shadows: Women Veterans and Homelessness." It explores why women veterans experiencing homelessness are under-represented in homeless person counts, published statistics, and related reports. It suggests they often remain "in the shadows" because they do not present in "typical" homeless settings, but instead, "couch surf/double up" with friends and family as long as they can (off-the-books kin network more common to women), stay in cars, and/or remain in relationships characterized by domestic violence amongst other arrangements. These unstable housing situations are not, by agency definition, necessarily considered as homelessness in federal agencies like the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs, a result of the 1987 McKinley-Vento Act and a 2009 update. A lack of transparency in data, "catastrophically" impacts the availability of funding, and therefore, services. Of particular interest is the shared and posted survey results that include personal comments from women veterans who experienced homelessness. They represent all military service branches, differing lengths is service and age groups with all indicating similar experiences. Other related references are linked.
G.I. Jane Needs A Place to Sleep (Article 1 of 4-part Series About Women Veteran Homelessness)
Wednesday, February 1, 2017 | Category: Housing/Experiencing Homelessness - National
This article is the first in a four-part series titled "Coming Out of the Shadows: Women Veterans and Homelessness." It explores why women veterans experiencing homelessness are under-represented in homeless person counts, published statistics, and related reports. It suggests they often remain "in the shadows" because they do not present in "typical" homeless settings, but instead, "couch surf/double up" with friends and family as long as they can, stay in cars, and/or remain in relationships characterized by domestic violence amongst other arrangements. These unstable housing situations are not, by agency definition derived from law, necessarily considered as homelessness in federal agencies like the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Amongst root causes of their homelessness, military sexual trauma is considered a prevalent factor. In comparison with male homeless veterans, women veterans are more often single parents with children who do not want to lose custody of their children.
Homeless Female Veterans To Get Additional Supportive Housing Option In Northern Virginia
Friday, September 30, 2016 | Category: Housing/Experiencing Homelessness - Virginia
Final Salute in Fairfax County offers formerly homeless and at-risk-of-homelessness female veterans and their children a safe place to live. Their residence will soon be renovated and upgraded through a collaboration between Final Salute and HomeAid Northern Virginia.