'Parking Lot' Suicides Roil VA Hospitals

My take is the VA Hospital already knows there is a catastrophic problem, when all too many Veterans use VA Parking Lots for a place to sleep.. However the VA police harass too many Veterans, even when ER Doctors tell you to go to the ER.

You become persona non grata, even if you have a car. Staying at Truck Stops or Walmart become places to rest your head. Very little comfort but you have lounges who seldom harass anyone. The 24HR places usually have food, but without money, you have to rely upon charity.

My cat and I had a symbiotic relationship. Mr DR Psych Doctor help by making my cat as an Emotional Support Pet. I am not stretching myself, if 4-5 years I began to consider a drastic measure or two. My cat helped with that. I had to find cool or warm places to keep my cat from over-heating or freezing.

I used to leave the VA garage in the morning (when I could) and go to the bookstore. I made her comfortable as I could, going into a D/D. She never was in direct sunlight. I used to go into where it was safe for her and me.

The VA Garages have many Veterans sleeping there. At some point, these routines become too much. The people sequestered there, are purposely understated. Making this a priorty is Hogwash. They may not specifically know how many, but they understand the scope of the problem. I remember going to the Social Worker for homelessness. One employee did not even look at me or even make eye contact with me, at the Social Workers office. MSWs give you a 5 dollar kit and think they have done their job.. When I called the National Homeless Office in D.C., they told me that the Administration had their own limitations, meaning it was just a talking point. Many Vets went to shelters but then they get tired of the stress in those places and the feeling no one cares.

The VA and their minions know the extent. They also know the whys and wherefores. So when they play games with the numbers and tell the IG that they have plans in place. Another falsehood.

They know that people are needy, and they go home (Social-Workers) with a roof over their heads. And I am not one to parse wods. Tonight when the next Veteran dies by suicide. It is on them (VA) because they do NOT care.

22 a day is NOT ACCEPTABLE, one a day is not either.. If these social workers had to trade places with Veterans, then we would get traction. We are the VETS, not them.

I would love to get an abandoned hotel in Graham, NC, as a place for the disposessed . Maybe get vouchers for a good meal and grants to make this viable. Non Veteran Employees should respect us like 3-star Generals, because our service provides money and a decent place to live. Treat all of us as flag officers. I would enforce that! Believe on that.

Your idea makes perfect sense. But to go farther, BRAC is in the news, so SOMEWHERE their will be a base/post closure. As much janitorial and lawn care skills we have, those former barracks can be renovated and reused to house the homeless. DoD cops could enforce the law, and allow the vets to make a hiarchy of sorts to produce leaders to represent them (sudo chain of command). This would give the vets the power to pick themselves up, and eventually move on when they feel the time is right. All the infrastructure is there, someone with some balls in congress just needs to post the question.
On a better note glad that cat kept you with us.

SSG Warren Swan Agree with you... I would add get the federal union out of it. The DC VA dir, was fired due to gross mismanagement and negligence last week or so. The union said that the VA Dir couldn't fire him, and the had to re-hire him. The concession was that he couldn't be the dir of the facility. Kept his same pay, different job. My 2 cents is, if you want to fix the VA, put vets in charge of it top down. The only government that should be involved is a lawyer to help make sure that everything is legal, and re-write stuff to make it legal.