WASHINGTON, DC, Feb 17 – The respite of peacetime, when members of our armed forces are relieved of the task of fighting our wars, can lull us into forgetting those who have faced combat. In particular, it’s easy to forget that the streets of our cities, big and small, are what too many veterans call home. The numbers of America’s homeless veterans may have decreased over the years, but a shameful number of them are still adrift. And now, ordinary Americans are coming to the rescue.

It’s difficult, at best, to know the numbers of homeless veterans in the U.S. at any given time, but at least one headcount shows that while fewer vets are living on the streets today still, too many are still living a rough life. “Nationally, the number of veterans experiencing homelessness in the United States has declined by nearly half since 2010, with more than 920,000 veterans and their family members permanently housed or prevented from becoming homeless,” says the Hines VA hospital. Does that mean there’s another 920,000 or so veterans out there who still are without shelter too many nights of the week? (Continue reading here…)