Advocates warn Americans to stop turning away from growing number of homeless vets

Story by Kim Driscoll

As a veteran who volunteers at a local VA hospital, I have seen first-hand the invisible battle scars that so many of our nation’s heroes return home with: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

When some of these veterans begin to experience PTSD symptoms, often there are no warning signs and it happens while they are living with family members, causing the vet to often move out.

Usually, untreated PTSD symptoms – paranoia, depression and flashbacks – prevent the vet from seeking healthy alternative living arrangements, particularly if the vet happens to be unemployed. It is then that many vets become homeless, preferring to sleep in parks or their cars rather than stay in overcrowded homeless shelters.

With thousands of troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, the face of the homeless veteran is becoming younger. Meanwhile, Vietnam vets, who continue to struggle for benefits, have taken these “sandbox kids” under their protective arm with hopes of guiding them through a complex VA system.

This is the story of forgotten heroes who fight for tenancy in Chicago’s only housing project specifically designated for homeless vets: St. Leo’s Residence. The 141-unit Catholic Charities facility is located in the heart of one of the city’s most crime-ridden communities, the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood.

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