Cross posted at Texas Kaos
A FOLLOW ME TO DC community project
DAVID HARRIS, TX 06
For any one that has followed my out-of-the-box campaign thus far, I welcome you to become familiar with our community service efforts. It is difficult running for office for anyone but I was certain that I would use the public forum, while available, to continue something that our family believes wholeheartedly in our own lives every day. If everyone volunteered an hour a week or contributed $20 a month to a charity, I am confident it would change the world.
As a Veteran, I chose to highlight a charity every month starting on Veterans Day last month. You can check here for our
first or second entries or read some of our others. Please consider giving to one or all of them on behalf of Veterans everywhere.
There are 24.7 million Veterans living in the United States. Nearly 23 percent of homeless adults are Veterans and many more Veterans who live in poverty are at risk for becoming homeless. While the war continues in Iraq, many more families are left behind without the help they need when soldiers are deployed or killed in the line of duty. As part of our continued effort to further Veterans causes, we will be highlighting a new Veterans charity in the top spot on our blog page every thirty days for the next year.
The ninth choice we are highlighting is a perfect fit. Because we highlight in our first paragraph each month the plight of homeless Veterans, we would like to ask those interested in donating to contribute to the
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.
About the program from their site:
NCHV was organized in 1990 by a small group of community-based service providers who were troubled by the disproportionately large percentage of homeless people who are veterans and the lack of veteran-specific programs to help them. We opened our Washington, D.C., office in 1993 in order to work more closely with Congress and Executive Branch Agencies to ensure the inclusion of veterans in federal assistance programs.
According to Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates, government programs currently available will reach only about 20% of America's homeless veterans. The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans is the only national organization specifically dedicated to improving the opportunities for these deserving Americans to regain control of their lives and once again enjoy the freedoms they helped preserve. Our community-based service providers represent 46 states and the District of Columbia, and we offer assistance to any homeless service provider that contacts our office.
NCHV has become recognized as the nation's leading authority on homeless veterans issues by several agencies and departments of the U.S. government, and has worked in partnership on projects with the VA, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Labor and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. NCHV has helped develop and increase funding for homeless veteran-specific programs such as the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program and the VA Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program, both of which are currently funded at their highest levels ever. We helped write and worked to ensure passage of the hallmark Homeless Veterans Comprehensive Assistance Act of 2001, which, if fully implemented, will provide up to $1 billion for homeless veteran service providers and programs
We encourage donations to this program via their site or via snail mail at:
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans
333 ½ Pennsylvania Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20003-1148