Mission Statement:
To coordinate efforts of The Michigan American Legion Family in augmenting efforts to assist homeless veterans that they may encounter and to supplement where possible existing homeless veterans providers and to support the mission and objectives of the National American Legion Homeless Veterans Task Force.
If you are a veteran and you are homeless or in trouble of becoming homeless call the VA Homeless program at
(877) 424-3838 or visit their website va.gov/homeless
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100% of the donations given to the Homeless Veteran Task Force are used for the objectives listed below.
Objectives:
- Provide financial and in-kind donations fundraising
- Programmatic expertise and guidance
- Benefits counseling
- Encourage Michigan Legion Family Participation with Homeless Veterans Organizations
Veterans make up a significant portion of the adult homeless population in the United States. Recent studies estimate that veterans comprise about 23 percent of all home-less adults, and 33 percent of homeless men. Although few large-scale studies exist of homeless female veterans, they are believed to make up approximately two per-cent of the population of homeless veterans.
Most homeless veterans (98 percent) are single men. Roughly consistent with the general population of homeless men, about 40 percent of homeless veterans suffer from mental illness, and 80 percent have alcohol or other drug abuse problems (with considerable overlap in these populations). Yet unlike the general population, homeless male veterans are more likely to be White non-Hispanic, older (45+ years), and more educated than their non-veteran counterparts. They are also more likely to have longer episodes of homelessness.
Compared to homeless male veterans, homeless female veterans tend to be younger, more likely to be married, and less likely to be employed. They are also more likely to suffer from serious psychiatric illness, but less likely to have a substance abuse disorder. With respect to substance abuse and mental illness, homeless female veterans do not appear to be significantly different from other homeless women.
The Department of Michigan would like to concentrate on providing a mechanism for our family to be even more effective in our efforts to provide assistance to our homeless veterans and that is by coordinating our efforts through our Homeless Veterans Task Force Chairman and providing information to our entire Michigan Legion Family about resources that are available for our Homeless Veterans.
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"No United States Veteran Should Ever Be Homeless"
The American Legion coordinates a Homeless Veterans Task Force (HVTF) among its 55 departments. Our goal is to augment existing homeless veteran providers, the VA Network Homeless Coordinators, and the Department of Labor’s Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP), Veterans Workforce Investment Program (VWIP), Disabled Veterans Outreach Personnel (DVOPs) and local Veterans Employment Representatives (LVERs).