Rock and Wrap It Up! 

The 2018 Rock and Wrap It Up! Veterans Toolkit is complete and now available.  Please visit the page and use the resources.

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We have developed databases of programs across the United States that feed the hungry. We work with veteran agencies such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars to connect these services with caregivers and information providers who work with veterans and their families. 

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This program works to offer our national food pantry/soup kitchen database, Hungerpedia, into the hands of veterans, their care-givers and national agencies who advocate for veterans and their families. There is no cost and it is available for free on our website. It also incentivizes passage of the new State Food Donation Act to put more food into the pipeline to feed more Americans who hunger in our country. 

 

Our vets served the country, now let’s serve them! 

 

Who and where are hungry and homeless veterans?

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• The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) states that the nation’s homeless veterans are predominantly male, with roughly 9% being female. About 11% of the adult homeless population are veterans

• Roughly 45% of all homeless veterans are African American or Hispanic, despite only accounting for 10.4% and 3.4% of the U.S. veteran population, respectively, according to the National Coalition of Homeless Veterans

• Homeless veterans are younger on average than the total veteran population. Approximately 9% are between the ages of 18 and 30, and 41% are between the ages of 31 and 50. Conversely, only 5% of all veterans are between the ages of 18 and 30, and less than 23% are between 31 and 50.

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"America’s homeless veterans have served in World War II, the Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, Persian Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq (OEF/OIF), and the military’s anti-drug cultivation efforts in South America. Nearly half of homeless veterans served during the Vietnam era. Two-thirds served our country for at least three years, and one-third were stationed in a war zone. About 1.4 million other veterans, meanwhile, are considered at risk of homelessness due to poverty, lack of support networks, and dismal living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing.” - National Coalition of Homeless Veterans

 

• Veterans are disproportionately homeless

• More than 67,000 homeless veterans were counted on a given January night in America last year. More than 4 in 10 homeless veterans were found unsheltered.

• 1.5 million veterans are at risk of homelessness due to poverty, lack of support networks, and dismal living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing.

• Many veterans have trouble finding good jobs

• 30.2 percent of veterans ages 18 to 24 were unemployed according to unpublished 2011 Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

• Nearly 1 in 10 veterans with disabilities were not employed in 2010.

• According to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a 2007 survey showed that more than one-third of employers were unaware of protections they must provide to service members, and more than half spent less than 2 percent of their recruitment budget on military advertising and/or did not understand the qualifications of military service.

• In that same survey more than half of all veterans were unsure of how to professionally network, and nearly three in four felt unprepared to negotiate salary and benefits and/or unable to effectively translate military skills.

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"More than 968,000 of veterans ages 18 to 64 had been in poverty in the past year in 2010” - Center for American Progress