We were on our way to a meeting on Saturday morning, and we headed west on I-10, exited on Speedway headed east. I got in the left lane as we were turning on Main Street. Lying on the median at the light was a person. There were empty water bottles on the ground around him, a banana peel, and some other garbage. I was concerned that he was dead. As we came to a stop, he moved. He was alive, surrounded by trash, and sleeping on a two-foot wide median on a major thoroughfare in Tucson.
Homeless in Tucson, AZ
Homelessness is a problem in Tucson, and it is also a problem in the United States. The Department of Housing and Urban Development directs an annual point-in-time (PIT) count of homeless individuals who are both sheltered (living in emergency shelter or transitional housing) and unsheltered (living on the street or other places not meant for human habitation). In 2020, this number was estimated at 10,979 in Arizona; down from 14,646 in 2007. I would suggest the number has increased since COVID. For today, let’s discuss that approximately 10% of our homeless population in Arizona are veterans.
So many programs, little success
Three weeks from today on Memorial Day, we will be honoring our U.S. military personnel who have died while serving the United States. While America has many problems right now, studies show that the veteran population is 2x more likely to become chronically homeless than other American groups. Contributing factors to this homelessness: long periods of unemployment, foreclosure, mental illness, and poverty. Seventy-six (76%) of homeless veterans experience alcohol, drug, or mental health issues. Just so we don’t jump to any conclusions, of that 76%,
- 89% received an honorable discharge
- 67% served 3 years or more
- 47% are Vietnam veterans
- 15% served before Vietnam
- 5.5% are Iraq and Afghanistan veterans
There are programs to assist homeless veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Department of Labor (DOL), and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Programs from the VA include Healthcare for Homeless Veterans, Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans, Compensated Work Therapy/Transitional Residence Program, Grant and Per Diem (GPD) Program, GPD for Homeless Veterans with Special Needs, Supportive Services for Veteran Family, Veterans Justice Outreach. DOL offers Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, Incarcerated Veterans Transition Program, HUD and VA Collaborative Programs. Between 2005-2020 the funding for these programs for veterans totaled nearly $2 trillion dollars and homelessness for veterans and others continues to rise.
Our federal government has put a lot of money in homeless veteran programs. Other programs for homelessness are available through grants to nonprofits. And yet the problem persists. Our city has allowed homeless to live under bridges, sleep on medians, pander on street corners, and camp throughout the riverbeds and desert. Visitors to Tucson see this, too. The corner of Valencia and Tucson Blvd—your first stoplight in Tucson when you leave the airport—has an encampment, empty lots filled with trash and debris. This is the “moment of truth” for Tucson.
What do we do?
People ask me all the time, “Shelley, what are you going to do about…..(fill in the blank)”. The answer is to find qualified people to run for office and get them elected. The party does not set policy; the elected officials do. The party are not single-issue activists; the people are. The party does not fund programs; the city/county/state/fed does. The party does not write legislation; the legislators do. The party’s job is to build the Republican community, be a presence in the community, register voters, support the candidates—and, we had an amazing month in April doing all those things and will continue to do that. Why this piece on homelessness? To make our community more aware, to generate the presence of letters, emails, attendance at BOS meetings/city council meetings, to create conversation to convince a voter to register and get involved, and to provide you and our candidates with the facts.