Why has it taken so Long for our Government to both Acknowledge and Address the Needs of our Homeless Vets?

Why are we looking for the government to do anything for us? It set up the VA while great in idea form, horrible in application. WE as a community should look out for each other, but we don't. Many talk the talk, but even fewer walk it. Now to caveat this, we have MANY former installations that are rotting away which could be repurposed easily and accommodate homeless vets, and even give them jobs maintaining the place. But no... one's gonna tackle that one. It's not a popular thing with any politician, and won't bring in money to any lobbyists. And IF a politician looked into it, some a**clown will bitch and moan that the vet's are being unfairly treated compared to the "regular" homeless person. I look at the old MP barracks on Ft. McClellan on FB, and they're rotting away as most of the post is, but they could EASILY be gone through made livable for homeless and MAINTAINED by them. Everyone's going to cite cost as their objection, but initial startup will not be cheap, but maintaining the status quo wouldn't be so bad once the standard's set. It would also give them a sense of ownership being they're no longer homeless and have responsibilities to care for where they live. But no. DoD will let these places fester and rot rather than acknowledge a serious problem and see that they have a means to effect change and help local economies and their former troops at the same time. But in the end, the government doesn't owe us sh*t; we went to them, asked for an opportunity and they gave it to us. It never promised to keep us to the same standards of living after we were no longer needed. Now we need each other more than ever. Too many generations of the Warrior Class (ALL OF US) living out of boxes or sleeping bags on the streets.

Honestly, I would love to respond......but my response would be a very very very angry filled response about our government ignoring and/or purposefully forgetting about homeless citizens.

The VA has poured so much money into "ending Veterans homelessness" that we could have given every homeless Veteran a house and a job. The problem is homelessness is a symptom of many other issues such as economic hardship, mental heath issues, and substance abuse just to name a few. Until you can stabilize the core issues a homeless Vet will remain at risk for future or continuing homelessness. You also have some folks that just prefer to live homeless. The VA needs to stop treating homelessness as a monolithic problem and lift restrains so that individual Medical Centers can work with local homeless Veterans to develop individualized plans that stabilize the Veteran and provide personalized resources.