Homeless Veterans in NY get the hookup

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/11/homeless.veterans/index.html

Homeless veteran is a nomad no more
-Navy veteran Joe O'Boyle spent 15 years living on the street
-A nonprofit called Pathways to Housing helped him find an apartment
-Pathways is a pioneer in separating treatment needs from housing needs
...
O'Boyle spent two of his homeless years underground, riding the trains of the city's subway system.

"I had nothing to do, so I rode the trains. I got to know the whole subway system like the back of my hand," O'Boyle said.

You had nothing to do? How about looking for a god damn job, asshole. Seriously, WTF?!

If your To-Do List looks like this, then go get a fucking job

Tsemberis believes that putting his clients in a place of their own is paramount in achieving success with their counseling and stabilization, as is the case with O'Boyle.

"You have to separate the treatment needs from the housing needs, which is what we were able to do for him. Give him a place to live so that he can feel safe and secure first, and then he's interested in helping himself with his psychiatric or addiction issues, employment issues. All of the issues follow the security of housing."

Hmmm there might be some truth in that....Then again, all homeless once had homes and went down from there...but there's no doubt that having a home would make getting back on your feet a lot easier.

Tsemberis says veterans' perspectives played a key role in the ideological creation of Pathways to Housing.

"They had already served their country, so jumping through hoops was not really something they were willing to put themselves through and would really accept housing on their own terms," he said.

"They felt that they had done their part and that someone should help them in the way that they deserved to be helped. And we agreed with that."

Ugh there is the bum's dangerous sense of self-entitlement. I have to say, I do feel way more sympathy for homeless Veterans than almost all other kinds of bums, but it's not like capable veterans shouldn't have to ever work again after a few years of service.

Pathways clients typically receive about $20,000 in rent and services which include mental health, addiction, health, employment and peer support. Tsemberis says that figure is half the amount a homeless person usually costs the system.

Daaaaamn that's expensive. This Tsemberis is saying that a homeless person usually costs "the system" $40,000? Man I didn't even make $40,000 a year until 2004, and didn't make more than $40,000 until 2005...and that was doing pretty well in Chicago!

The money comes from federal, state and some city funds, and clients have to meet standard lease obligations, such as paying 30 percent of income toward rent. Rental rates on apartments are fair market, with a studio usually going for about $750 a month.

Yeah NY rentals are expensive, but it sounds like these bums are living pretty well with the help of this service. I hope it produces rehabilitative results.