Ben Carson – Black & Blonde Media

Ben Carson and the ‘National Coalition for Homeless Veterans’ Sideshow

©Black & Blonde Media — Sat, 01 Jun 2019 17:12:54 +0000

Veterans continue to be fundraising props for liberal nonprofits and those they need to suck up for even more federal grant money, despite the fact that actually achieving their so-called missions would end their need to exist.

In 2016, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe started the lie that his state “functionally ended” veteran homelessness and sadly, President Trump’s HUD Secretary repeats the expanded version of that lie to this day. Most recently at the National Coalition for Veteran Homelessness “Annual Conference” on May 31, 2019 to an audience that looked like they had other things they’d much rather be doing….

It would have been preferred if Secretary Carson consulted with someone like Walter Williams and done an audit of the effectiveness of the nonprofit sector, especially when it comes to homeless veterans. Are they effective or are they essentially making life harder for veterans in order to keep the donor dollars and grant money coming in so those at the nonprofits can continue to live their comfortable lives?

Notice of Funding Availability: HVRP Grant Applications Due April 26
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service (VETS) announced the availability of approximately $13.5 million in Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program (HVRP) grants. HVRP grants provide services to assist in reintegrating homeless veterans into…continue

Notice of Funding Availability: GPD Grant Applications Due May 20
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is announcing the availability of funds to eligible entities to provide time-limited case management services to improve the retention of housing by Veterans who were previously homeless and are transitioning to permanent housing from…continue
— National Coalition for Homeless Veterans website

While Carson and others pat themselves on the back at how readily available VASH (Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program) vouchers are to homeless veterans who need them, the reality on the ground is entirely different. HUD employees who do the “intake” with veterans seldom display or act in any sense of urgency. The perception is that most veterans in need of VASH vouchers have drug, alcohol and/or psychological issues but in too many instances, these “issues” arise only after dealing with the fat and comfortable government employees and nonprofits who are very good at telling the veteran what they can’t do after the lengthy intake process and direct them to other entities that also tell them what can’t be done. Veterans who are fortunate to have received the VASH voucher are then subjected to humiliating “case management” that keeps more employed and fed at the veteran’s expense, seeing how not all veterans are in need of condescending babysitting.

We’ve also heard that VASH vouchers not offered to homeless veterans are rolled into the Section 8 program for local dispersal to those deemed most needy and deserving, like immigrants and refugees.

From NCHV 2016 1099 form

Keeping in good with the grant issuers appears to be doing right by the National Coalition for Veteran Homelessness.

While claiming to respect and care for veterans, this year’s NCHV annual conference theme said it all: homeless veterans are nothing but “data” they can use to justify more money to fund their nonprofit salaries and overhead (including the immodest ±$300k cost of a three-day “annual conference” at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Washington, D.C.).

2016 NCHV “Annual Conference” cost

As far as the glowing reviews, we still have “case workers” (the vast majority non-veteran) who for the most part are not the most motivated, and government employees who set veterans up for letdowns more than they achieve results, and if they do, it’s a very lengthy process.

BTW — A “Veteran’s Affairs Social Worker” is the #4 “Highest Paying Jobs in Social Work“. #5 is “Executive Director of a Non Profit Organization”….

And “saving the best for last” is another Democrat hack who’s used the nonprofit route to elevate herself, using her veteran status to carve out a niche in supposedly helping homeless female veterans, despite her “Women Veterans Interactive” having $0 in income and assets while receiving grant funding in the past.

Secretary Carson may only be regurgitating the oft-repeated liberal lie of veteran homelessness being “functionally ended” because we all know how employees tend to put the best face on projects for the boss. But until homeless veterans are not looked at as golden goose opportunities to keep career welfare alive in the nonprofit sector in particular, there will be justified need for all the case managers and social workers.

Lastly, a commonly-used justification for the nonprofit and/or VA caseworker class is the slander that too many homeless veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. But it’s never honestly discussed where the PTSD originated because the truth is inconvenient.

At the point of separation from the military, 2.4% of all Veterans and 9.3% of subsequently homeless Veterans were diagnosed with PTSD.
— Homelessness and Risk Factors for Homelessness Among Veterans from the Era of the Afghanistan (OEF) and Iraq (OIF/OND) Conflicts

However, the truth is never publicly mentioned by the comfortable for obvious reasons.

A lot of studies show that homeless people often experience PTSD after becoming homeless….
— Psychologist Jack Tsai, PhD, of Yale University

Dealing with those who promote, promise much and dash hope will do it every time.

A veteran in need will be driven to alcohol, drugs and may even consider suicide because dealing with those who receive taxpayer dollars to care and deliver results don’t have to.

Political Declarations of ‘Ended’ Veteran Homelessness is a LIE

©Black & Right — Mon, 12 Nov 2018 19:28:56 +0000

In the media’s ongoing attempt to prove how much better they are than the American people, CNN issued the following “Do more than just thank a veteran” in their daily email drop.

Help veterans on the streets
A phone call can also make difference in the life of a veteran who is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Call 877-4AID-VET, or 877-424-3838, to connect with help at the VA. This service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Department of Veterans Affairs’ Stand Down program is designed to help homeless veterans “combat” life on the streets. Stand Downs are usually one- to three-day events that provide food, shelter, clothing and health screenings to homeless and unemployed veterans. To find a Stand Down program in your community, contact your local VA hospital.

This implies there ARE veterans that don’t have a warm place to call their own, however if you were look at the declarations of states and municipalities (mostly Democrat-run) you would get a far different impression of the plight of too many veterans.

The whole theme of “ending veteran homelessness” was initially a pet project of First Lady Michelle Obama and we all know the priority “pet projects” of the boss’ wife are given, even if the results have to be embellished to keep the wife happy and those involved in good favor.

Opportunist politicians took the cue and announced successes that require a suspension of common sense.

Virginia Just Became the First State in the US to End Veteran Homelessness

And it just snowballed from there….

The disingenuous definition of “ending veteran homelessness” for the politically callous is sending a homeless veteran to a shelter. If he or she goes to that shelter for a night, that veteran is checked off the “homeless” list. This is VERY temporary and too many veterans would rather sleep on the street than go to potentially dangerous homeless shelters.

When this administration took on the challenge to end veteran homelessness, many believed that it was an unattainable goal. A growing list of more than 35 communities, and the entire states of Connecticut, Delaware, and Virginia, have proven that ending veteran homelessness is possible and sustainable.
— Tina Tchen, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady

“Functionally” and “effectively” are political words used to dance around reality for political backpats and points. Some even leave those words out and make the declaration despite the very real reality on the ground.

Utah had touted ending homelessness for veterans years ago. Now the numbers are increasing

While the first person whom a veteran reaches out to points to a shelter, what does it say when being on the street is preferable to any homeless shelter a social worker, politician or nonprofit brags about but would NEVER choose to stay in themselves?

This shelter pictured above probably got advanced notice a state senator would be dropping by so don’t assume it looks (and smells) this clean the other 364 days of the year.

Let’s be real: the military and subsequent veterans are very low on the priority list of many politicians, yet politicians and nonprofits love to be pictured with black homeless veterans in particular to tug on public and donor heartstrings.

But as no one has called the politically-motivated out on the lie, it continues on….

St. Joseph reaches goal of ending veteran homelessness
Manistee, Missaukee, Wexford counties celebrate being ‘Functional zero’ for veterans homelessness
Lexington first city in state to effectively end veteran homelessness
Mayor announces end to veteran homelessness in Lansing

The federal government is even showcasing the ending-veteran-homelessness fabrication.

Communities and states that have ended Veteran homelessness

The VA continues to be a mess, albeit not as bad as in previous years, and taxpayer dollars meant for homeless veterans are quickly diverted to more desired immigrant refugees, illegal aliens with children, unwed mothers with children, etc.

The “success” stories continue to trickle in….

Series of innovations has virtually ended homelessness among veterans in Minnesota
James Lovell Federal Health Care Center marking an end to veteran homelessness in Lake County
Phoenix Valley model on ending veteran homelessness getting attention from Washington D.C.

Yes, the same Phoenix the late John McCain said was free of homeless veterans and way up near the top of our list, Connecticut in 2015 was declared the second state to end veteran homelessness.

That was then….

Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness CEO Richard Cho says in the report that “Connecticut appears to be maintaining its progress on ending veteran homelessness as the number of homeless veterans remains low, and homeless veterans that are identified continue to be reconnected to stable housing quickly (e.g., within 90 days).”
— Fox 61, 6/22/19

Kinda sucks when you have to revise the lie; a lie that requires constant updates.

Abilene officially ninth city in US to end veteran homelessness

The fact we still have homeless veterans is something we’ll continue to see on our street corners and sidewalks despite what politicians, bloated self-enriched nonprofits and the media say to our faces.

Veterans homelessness is down 49% since the Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs began an inter-agency effort to tackle the issue nine years ago.

More specifically, about 77 communities and three states across the country have declared an effective end to veterans homelessness, Hunter Kurtz, assistant secretary for public and Indian housing at HUD, told a handful of members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee at a field hearing in San Diego, California, last week.
— Federal News Network, 8/28/19

If only Secretary Kurtz and the president really knew the reality.