A group of veterans in Boston currently spend their weeks walking through the city's back alleys and bridge underpasses, looking for those who are struggling with life after service.
The Washington Post reported that the state of Massachusetts has recruited a team of veterans who were once living without permanent shelter to help reduce the state's homeless veteran population. The former servicemembers forge connections with those still living on the streets, help them find a home – typically an apartment subsidized by the government – and then continue to check up on them every week so they do not become homeless again – something the team of veterans knows well.
"When [the homeless veterans] say, 'Oh, you don't know what I'm talking about,' I can say, 'Yeah, I do, because I was there myself,'" team leader Christopher Doyle told the news source.
Boston's new method of reducing its rate of veterans homelessness is part of a larger effort. According to The Boston Globe, the state revealed a master plan in early 2013 to eliminate veterans homelessness by 2015.
Although the veterans homelessness rate has declined by 24 percent since 2010, a recent report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development found that on a single night in January 2013, there were more than 57,000 veterans living without permanent shelter in the U.S.
About 20 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to data compiled by the Department of Veterans Affairs. As PTSD becomes more common in veterans, many doctors have been looking for ways to improve life after service through various treatments and medications. A recent report from NPR found that medicinal marijuana might be one healing method for former servicemembers with PTSD symptoms.
According to the news source, veterans have been petitioning the federal government to grant them access to the drug. But while experiments done on animals have shown that tetrahydrocannabinol, a chemical found in marijuana, affects circuits in the brain associated with fear and anxiety, the medical link between marijuana and PTSD remains unfounded. Andrew Holmes, a researcher at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, told the news outlet that testing on humans is still in its beginning stages, and there are several factors doctors are uncertain about, such as the possible side effects of marijuana usage. Some of these side effects include short-term memory loss and hindered motor skills.
However, the news source reported that one study out of the University of Michigan found that long-term usage of marijuana was effective when paired with extinction therapy, which stops the brain from responding to triggers of fear or anxiety.
"I think if there are medications including drugs like marijuana that can be used in the right way, there's an opportunity there, potentially," Dr. Kerry Ressler of Emory University told the news source.
Three years ago, Arizona state officials formed a coalition to end chronic veterans homelessness in Phoenix. Now, the city's mayor claims that that goal has been achieved.
The Washington Post reported that in 2010, there were 222 homeless veterans living in Phoenix. Although 56 remained as of November, the state allocated a fund of $100,000 to house the remaining homeless veterans.
"Phoenix can take its place as role model city for gratitude and care towards veterans," Mayor Greg Stanton said in a statement, as quoted by the news source.
To eradicate chronic veterans homelessness, the city used federal grants amounting to more than $6.5 million, as well as nearly $2 million in city funds, the news outlet stated.
A January 2013 report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development found that more than 1,000 veterans in Arizona are homeless. Arizona also saw one of the largest increases in its homeless veterans population between 2012 and 2013. However, the number of homeless veterans only make up 1 percent to 2.9 percent of Arizona's overall homeless population.
According to the HUD report, there were more than 57,000 homeless veterans in the U.S. on a single night in January 2013.
An organic farmer from California has formed a nonprofit to help veterans transition to life after service in an unexpected way – through farming.
Launched by Michael O'Gorman in 2008, the Farmer Veteran Coalition pairs returning servicemembers with experienced farmers, giving military veterans the chance to hone their agriculture skills. The nonprofit also offers a job-placement program, as well as grants for fledgling agriculture entrepreneurs, according to AARP The Magazine.
Through this newfound mentorship, O'Gorman hopes that veterans will be able to heal the mental wounds from their time in combat and find a peaceful after-service career in farming.
"It seemed like there was something that drew people to the concept – something to do with the healing of the veterans, something to do with maybe healing for everybody," O'Gorman told the magazine. "You go back to the Bible and you see the verse about turning swords into plowshares. There's a power in the transition between those two things."
O'Gorman added that the nonprofit has gained popularity over the years, with about 100 veterans inquiring about the farming mentorship each month. The organization currently works with veterans in 48 states.
A career in agriculture may be a good fit for many veterans, considering their high levels of unemployment in the U.S. According to The Washington Post, the unemployment rate for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is around 10 percent – the highest out of any veterans group.
The Joyce-Herbert Veterans Museum in Bayonne, N.J., has been paying tribute to local war heroes since it opened in 2006. However, securing the funding to keep the museum's doors open to the public hasn't always been easy.
According to The Jersey Journal, the Bayonne veterans museum is currently struggling to stay open. Members of the museum told the news source that it costs about $2,000 per month to run the facility – an amount that is sometimes hard to come by.
"We count on donations to keep running," Glen Flora, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 226, told the news outlet. "I want to keep the museum alive. I want to keep it permanent."
In addition to the monthly payments, the museum also had about a $14,000 in back electric bills. Flora told the news source that several city officials, such as Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith, are helping the museum with donations and grants.
Despite the lack of funding, the museum's members are determined to continue the facility's already-established legacy in the north Jersey area. Featuring military artifacts dating back to the Civil War, the museum is a leading source of information for local schoolchildren, interested residents and those adjusting to life after service. The museum has had more than 8,000 visitors since 2006, including local politicians.
For the past year, the Department of Veterans Affairs has been working on reducing its disability claims backlog, which currently has thousands of veterans across the country waiting longer than the standard 125 days for a response. The Washington Post reported that the waiting period varies drastically from city to city, with nine VA offices making veterans wait more than one year.
Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Reno, Nev., St. Louis and Winston-Salem, N.C., are the cities with the longest waits for disability claims. Reno is the worst offender, with an average wait of 433.9 days, according to data from the VA. Baltimore has the second-longest wait at 395.7 days, while Winston-Salem, Los Angeles and Cleveland round out the top five.
Although Reno has slowest rate of processing disability claims, it also a relatively low number of claims, according to the news source. About 6,600 Reno veterans have claims pending, while the Winston-Salem office has nearly 37,000 veterans waiting for a response.
After President Barack Obama prioritized reducing the disability claims backlog earlier this year, the VA has made considerable improvement in cutting down the wait time. The federal agency announced last November that the backlog dropped by 34 percent since March.
Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans are finding some relief from their symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder with the help of animal therapy.
A new type of 12-step treatment, Saddles for Soldiers is helping veterans adjust to life after service by partnering them with not service dogs, but horses, according to CBS Los Angeles. The Southern California-based organization has returning servicemembers work with horses, thereby creating a human-animal bond and re-establishing working skills.
"There are a lot of people who don't know we are hurting. There are a lot of us who won't admit it," Blade Anthony, a veteran Marine, told the news source. "For a Marine, we always say, 'Suck it up'. You don't know you are hurting, you just keep going on. I went to the VA on Sepulveda [Boulevard]. I did all that stuff, but this really, really helped me."
Veterans meet at the Shadow Hills Equestrian Center, an 11-acre ranch located in the San Fernando Valley, for the recovery program, as well as an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, stated the organization's mental health and operations manager, Susan Kelejian.
According to the Department of Veteran Affairs, about 20 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have symptoms of PTSD.
Newly released analysis from The Los Angeles Times found that California veterans under the age of 35 have a death rate that's higher than both active-duty servicemembers and civilians in the same age group. The findings shed some light on what life after service is like for young veterans.
After studying the state's mortality records, the news source reported that young Californian veterans were twice more likely to commit suicide and be a victim of a fatal motor vehicle crash than civilians in their age group, and 25 percent more likely to be involved in other deadly accidents. Suicide tended to be the leading cause of death, with 27 suicides per year for every 100,000 veterans under the age of 35.
According to the news outlet, the high death rate for young veterans typically emerges during wartime. For example, a government study conducted in 1987 found that veterans who served in Vietnam were 62 percent more likely to die in the first five years following their service than veterans who did not serve in combat.
California has the highest veteran population in the country. Nearly 2 million veterans live in the Golden State, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. More than 1.3 million of the state's veterans have served in a war.
Wreaths were placed on thousands of graves last weekend to remember the lives of former servicemembers.
Since 1992, the tribute Wreaths Across America has brought military families, veterans and individuals to cemeteries in all 50 states, as well as 24 locations overseas, to honor the service of late veterans. According to the organization's website, the remembrance began with Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., and expanded to more than 300 locations over the years. In 2008, Congress officially made Dec. 13 "Wreaths Across America Day," solidifying the tradition.
"If we don't honor those that have served and those who have fallen, then we will not carry the legacy on and teach our children what a great nation we live in," Tennessee wreath coordinator Bernice Koprince, whose son died while serving in Iraq, told local news outlet WBIR.
According to the news source, about 2,000 wreaths were placed on the graves of Knox County veterans this year. Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported that more than 100,000 headstones at Arlington National Cemetery were adorned with the wreaths over the weekend. A parade featuring military officials also took place at the expansive cemetery prior to the event.
The Department of Veterans Affairs recently announced a new health care policy that will make it easier for veterans to receive military benefits and treatment for various illnesses related to traumatic brain injuries, The New York Times reported.
When it takes affect Jan. 16, the new policy will expedite the claims process for former servicemembers who sustained a TBI during combat. While current VA rules state that servicemembers must provide evidence that their health complications stem from a brain injury received during service, the new regulations will only require that veterans prove they have a service-connected injury without any further evidence. Once that is established, veterans will be able to receive compensation and treatment for their illness.
While this new policy will make life after service easier for many veterans, the news source reported that the policy has some limitations. Former servicemembers with Parkinson's disease, unprovoked seizures, hormone deficiency diseases or dementia are only eligible for the benefits if their TBI was moderate or severe, which account for only two out of 10 brain injuries.
"We must always decide veterans' disability claims based on the best science available and we will," Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki said in a statement. "Veterans who endure health problems deserve timely decisions based on solid evidence that ensure they receive benefits earned through their service to the country."