The Call Of America - Facts:

The Call Of America.... To Serve!

FACT: Whether you reside in a large city or small farming community, chances are there is a homeless veteran in the area.

· Less than 15 percent of all homeless adults in the United States are Veterans.

· On any given night 75,609 Veterans were homeless.

· An estimated 149,635 Veterans spent at least one night in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program over the course of the year. Many other Veterans are considered at risk because of poverty, lack of support from family and friends and precarious living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing.

· Ninety-four percent of homeless Veterans who receive VA services are male and most are single. About half of these Veterans suffer from mental illness and more than two-thirds suffer from alcohol or drug use problems. Nearly 40 percent have both psychiatric and substance use disorders.

· A total of 20,184 Veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation New Dawn (OND) have been identified as homeless by VA during the past five years. The number of homeless Veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan is increasing; but constitutes 5.5 percent of the overall homeless population.

INDIANA VETERAN FACTS

75 Hoosiers (two still living) have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in testimony to their courage and sacrifices

501,000 - The number of veterans living in Indiana in 2009.

10.4 percent - The share of Indiana’s adult population that are veterans. Among Indiana counties, Owen has the highest concentration of veterans at 15.6 percent of the adult population followed by Miami (15.1 percent), Brown (15.1 percent), Martin (14.6 percent) and Newton (14.5 percent).

34 percent - The share of Indiana veterans that served during the Vietnam War era (1964-1975). Furthermore, among all living Hoosier veterans, 21 percent served during the Gulf War period that is broadly defined as 1990 to the present, 12 percent served during the Korean War era and 11 percent during World War II.

Veteran-Owned Businesses:

46,800 - The number of veteran-owned business in Indiana in 2007. Of these businesses, 9,400 had paid employees while the remaining 37,300 firms represent self-employed workers or partnerships with no paid employees. Additionally, another 24,200 Hoosier firms were partially owned by veterans in 2007.

136,500 - The number of jobs in Indiana generated by veteran-owned businesses in 2007. Another 48,300 Hoosier jobs are supported by firms that were partially owned by veterans.

$26.2 billion - The total value of sales for Indiana’s veteran-owned businesses in 2007. Indiana businesses partially owned by veterans generated an additional $7.9 billion in sales.

8,250 - The number of veteran-owned construction companies in Indiana in 2007. This is the largest industry for veteran-owned businesses followed by professional and scientific services (6,090) and retail trade (4,730). Indiana’s veteran-owned manufacturing firms led all industries in job creation with 31,300 workers in 2007.

Characteristics of the Veteran Population 5.3 percent - The share of Indiana veterans that are female.

$32,249 - The median annual income of Indiana’s veterans in 2009, compared to $24,301 for the general population.

17.6 percent - The percent of Indiana veterans with a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 22.5 percent for the population as a whole.

27.2 percent - The share of Indiana’s veterans that have some type of disability, compared to 15.5 percent for Indiana’s total population age 18 or above. The higher rate of disability among veterans could be attributed to both military service and the fact that the share of Indiana veterans age 65 or older is more than twice as great as for the total population.

Useful links

The Department of Veterans Affairs released a fact sheet in September 2011 on the extent of homelessness among Veterans and all VA programs that are integrated to support Veterans experiencing or at-risk of homelessness.
Click Here for Fact Sheet.

United States Inter-Agency on Homelessness Opening Doors: Homelessness Among Veterans Click Here for Fact Sheet