Media Advisory for Immediate Release                                Contact: John Brennan 202-258-3993         

December 21, 2007

Veterans Advocacy Group Comes Out Fighting for

Iowa Homeless Veterans and Veterans’ Bill of Rights

Vowing to make sure Iraq and Afghan Vets are not treated like returning Vietnam Vets, Circle of Friends for American Veterans leads rally in Des Moines

What: Rally for homeless veterans and Veterans’ Bill of Rights

Where: Holiday Inn Downtown Des Moines, 1050 6^th Avenue, Des Moines

When: Saturday, December 29 at 7:00 P.M.

Media availability

Des Moines, Iowa -- Circle of Friends for American Veterans continues its nationwide circuit of ten rallies in Des Moines to raise support for the homeless veterans.  

“It is an outrage that there are now about 3,000 of our valiant troops who served their country in Iraq and Afghanistan and are now homeless on the streets of our nation,” said Maj. Brian Hampton USAR (ret), President of the Circle of Friends for American Veterans. “An even a sadder state of affairs is that on any given night there are 500-1000 homeless veterans in Iowa and there are only 56 beds for homeless veterans for the entire state.”

There are approximately 300,000 homeless veterans on our streets any given night. The Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) only funds 8,000 beds a years for these homeless veterans. The burden for supporting homeless veterans falls on the approximately 350 not-for-profit transitional facilities around the country. Only a small per cent of those receive any kind of DVA funding, and even then, this funding is inadequate.

“Congress needs to act quickly to help the returning Iraqi and Afghan veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and pass the Veterans’ Bill of Rights,” said Maj. Hampton.

During its nationwide ten city circuit of rallies, Circle of Friends will raise support for the “Veterans’ Bill of Rights” drafted by the organization. One of the provisions in it includes increasing the DVA’s capacity to counsel Iraqi and Afghan veterans for Post Traumatic Stress (PTSD); a leading cause of homelessness for returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. According to the Government Accountability Office, six of the seven DVA medical centers are not prepared for the burgeoning PTSD case load.

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