Hello, my name is Joseph Davidson and I am a Honors in Nursing student at the University of Alabama Birmingham. On any given night in the United States, there are estimated populations of around 200,000 homeless veterans living on the streets in this country. I am curious as to why veterans make up such a large segment of the homeless population, especially when you consider that the men and women of this specific segment of homeless were able to receive training, perform specialized tasks, and live within a structured regimented environment while serving in the military.

 My hope is that my academic learning experience will enhance my understanding of trying to discover common factors that may lead to veteran homelessness. My service learning partner is Three Hots and a Cot, which is an organization devoted to assisting displaced veterans with housing, food, and other crucial resources and programs that will hopefully lead back to their own self sufficiency. There are group homes for these veterans located throughout the Birmingham, Alabama metro area. I will be working with the group home located on the north side of town. I would also like to invite anyone interested in this topic to feel free to communicate any ideas or experiences that they feel may be beneficial to this subject. I look forward to updating this blog periodically and am excited to hear back from you.

Helping Our Heroes

The United States of America has had a rich history of military service for over two hundred years. The men and women that have served in the armed forces have come from all walks of life and have sacrificed their time, sweat,  blood, and for some, their very lives. Sadly, there is an ever growing epidemic spreading through the veteran community. Homelessness is a disparity that affects people from every sociodemographic background without regard to race, religion or creed, but according to various research articles on the subject, veterans make up to twenty-five percent of the homeless population. There are questions that need to be asked as to why veterans are over represented in this population, but more importantly what answers can be found by studying  this travesty and more over, what services and programs can promote their self-sufficiency.(Helping Our Homeless Heroes,Davidson,2012)