Stories about veterans are often heart-stopping, heart-warming or heart-breaking. The plight of homeless women veterans is heart-breaking. Like most Americans, I was not aware of this situation until I heard a brief speech by Jaspen Boothe at a benefit concert for veterans’ charities, featuring internationally acclaimed tenor Anthony Kearns held at the Salamander Resort in Middleburg, Virginia, in February. Capt. Jaspen Boothe, U.S. Army Reserves, is an impressive woman, statuesque and very articulate. Her message is, however, sad beyond words.
She speaks for homeless women veterans, their lives, their trials and their needs. To begin with, women have increased their participation in military service to about 14 percent of the active combat forces in recent deployments. They take the same oath, follow the same rules and bleed the same blood as the men, but when they return to civilian life, their path, for many, is far from the same.
The conditions they face are those of many other veterans, including post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and physical impairment. But they also must cope with what is called Military-Sexual-Trauma Syndrome (MST), a debilitating result of sexual abuse by fellow servicemen. The usual after effects of rape are complicated by the sense that the very institution which they have pledged to serve and protect has in the end not protected them from their fellow soldiers.
This realization leads to deep-set anger and feelings of self-loathing often compounded by fear of men in general — a combination which invites substance abuse and paranoia. Physical safety can become an overwhelming obsession. In addition, 40 percent of women veterans are of minority populations, and many are (or were) married to servicemen, which means frequent transfers and lack of community roots and support systems.
All of these factors tend to be interconnected. They are responsible for this group comprising an estimated 12 percent of the total unemployed population, and, by some estimates, up to 77 percent of homeless women veterans are unemployed. Female veterans are four times more likely to be homeless than their civilians counterparts. A shocking reward for their service to our country.
The most devastating factor in the life of female veterans is the fact that 70 percent of homeless veterans are mothers with dependent children. There is no provision for children in the Veterans Administration housing assistance programs. These women are referred to local social services agencies. However, if they register with these agencies as “homeless,” they are automatically categorized as unfit mothers and their children are taken away. Such women have faced hostile fire and they do not lack self-reliance. So, they enter a life of sleeping in cars, in relatives’ or friends’ living rooms, or on the streets. As such, they do not show up on any statistical census of the homeless. They are the “invisible homeless,” uncounted and uncared for by anyone.
In 2010, Jas Boothe decided she had to try to help her sister veterans. She had herself suffered homelessness due to Hurricane Katrina, which wiped out her house and all she had in the world – just before learning that she had cancer.
She survived and, after returning from active duty, she founded in 2010 Final Salute Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to serving homeless women veterans. She decided to take “Never leave a comrade on the battlefield” to a new level.
The organization has achieved a national outreach, and the founder has been recognized by dozens of organizations, from the U.S. Department of Defense, People magazine, and CNN to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, as well as celebrities, notably Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, and Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan (ABC-TV), among many others.
None of these honors impresses Jas much. She is much more concerned with the 900 women Final Salute has helped through its Emergency Financial Assistance program, which aims to get funds to women in need so that they can avoid becoming homeless in the first place. Another program, Housing Outreach Mentorship Encouragement (H.O.M.E), has the same objective by providing temporary housing and counseling at their home in Alexandria (children welcome!). Other programs assist women to prepare for jobs during their transition. Jas operates on the principle, “If you can’t do everything, at least do something!”
This situation is a national disgrace, which should be addressed by the Veterans Administration but which is another victim of an unbelievably inept bureaucracy. In the meantime, one way to help is to give Jas Boothe a hand. Donations of $25 can be made by simply texting on your cell phone “Salute” to 80077. The $25 will be added to your phone bill. Jas explains, “$25 is a day off the streets for a homeless woman veteran and her children.” Larger donations can be made through the website, www.finalsaluteinc.org
On Veterans Day, our nation honors the service of all our military personnel, from all wars, all services and all genders. Women have been serving our country in battle since the Revolutionary War and they deserve our utmost respect and support. Today, they are being neglected and dishonored by our social system. That must change!
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