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| The media, lawmakers and a sea of veterans surrounded Heather French Henry in the Cannon House Office Building in Washington March 8 to help Rep. Lane Evans, D-Ill., celebrate his introduction of a bill in French's name to assist the nation's homeless veterans . French, who was Miss America 2000, is the namesake of H.R. 936, the Heather French Homeless Veterans Assistance Act of 2000. Evans honored her earlier on the House floor, saying: "If we consider how much one young woman accomplished during her year of service as Miss America on behalf of our nation's homeless veterans, there can be no doubt this nation can end homelessness among veterans within a decade." Evans and French stressed the importance of therapeutic housing for veterans recovering from substance abuse . Evans said that a member of his staff recently visited a facility in Las Vegas and was told that VA staff "usually" can find a bed for homeless, dying veterans in their last weeks of life. Outraged and Ashamed "As a nation, we should be outraged and shamed by this treatment of men and women who have served our nation in uniform," Evans said. French said she had statistics indicating that over the next decade veterans will experience 1 billion nights of "veteran homelessness" if the current number of homeless veterans remains the same . There are between 291,434 and 344,983 homeless veterans in the country, according to recent estimates. Since mid-September 1999 , when she was crowned Miss America, French has been visiting homeless veteran programs across the nation, from those run by the VA to community-based nonprofit organizations to multi-jurisdictional Stand Downs, community-based outreach events. Among the bill's provisions : · Participation by homeless veterans in compensated work therapy. · Expanded dental and mental health care. · Transitional housing. · Creation of evaluation centers to address health care needs of homeless veterans. · A comprehensive outreach program, including links to the Bureau of Prisons, state social service agencies , the Department of Defense and mental health, veterans and homeless advocate organizations . · Creation of a 15-member homeless veterans advisory committee within the VA. · Coordination of employment services. · Transitional assistant grants to veterans being released from various institutions. · Technical assistance grants to nonprofit community-based groups with experience in providing assistance to homeless veterans. · A home loan program for manufactured housing. · Use of VA assets such as real property to provide emergency, transitional or permanent housing for homeless veterans. The legislation is intended "To establish the end of homelessness among veterans within a decade as a national goal of highest priority." Copyright © 1999-2000 Stars and Stripes Omnimedia, Inc. All rights reserved. |
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