During the Spring of 2023, I worked on an app for homeless veterans of United States. The purpose of this app was to provide easy access to information and support for the veterans and their families. Contrary to all the other applications out there, VeteranWatch aims to be simple to use, explore and have a massive information bank that is updated and reliable.
How many veterans are homeless in the United States?
While only 8% of Americans can claim veteran status, 17% of our homeless population is made up of veterans. In 2010, the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) estimated that on any given night there were 76,000 homeless veterans sleeping on American streets.
The vast majority of homeless veterans (96%) are single males from poor, disadvantaged communities. Homeless veterans have served in World War II, Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan), Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the military's anti-drug cultivation efforts in South America.
What is the primary cause of veteran homelessness?
Research shows that the greatest risk factors for homelessness are lack of support and social isolation after discharge. Veterans have low marriage rates and high divorce rates; and, currently, 1 in 5 veterans is living alone. Social networks are particularly important for those who have a crisis or need temporary help. Without this assistance, they are at high risk for homelessness.
Nearly half a million (467,877) veterans are severely rent burdened and pay more than 50% of their income for rent. More than half (55%) of veterans with severe housing cost burden fell below the poverty level and 43% received food stamps.
Why did I decide to work on this app? Will it benefit people? If yes, how?
With the increasing number of homeless veterans, it is important that the awareness about this problem isn’t restricted to people who are or were in service. Most apps require verification before entering and reading about or claiming benefits. I would like to create a platform where common people can find information about the problem of homelessness among veterans and would like to provide information and tools so, if they need to, they can also help someone they know. I observed that there is a major scarcity of VA apps out there.
Other VA apps out there
Official VA App by U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs
Strength: Informational, safe - requires you to verify before entering the app
Weakness: Government regulated - there are restrictions - Info not easy to pull up
Vetsapp
Strength: Uses icons for better understanding and had a smoother information architecture.
Weakness: The app has a lot of information missing and the relevancy of information is not perfect
The number of homeless female veterans is on the rise: in 2006. Comparison studies conducted by HUD show that female veterans are two to three times more likely to be homeless than any other group in the US adult population.
About 53% of individual homeless veterans have disabilities, compared with 41% of homeless non-veteran individuals.
Half suffer from mental illness; two-thirds suffer from substance abuse problems; and many from dual diagnosis (which is defined as a person struggling with both mental illness and a substance abuse problem).
Veteran Connection
Strength: Comprehensive directory of services and resources, Direct access to emergency services, Customizable options
Weakness: No direct connection to other veterans
Approximately 45% of the 1.6 million veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are seeking disability compensation. The average wait to get a disability claim processed is now eight months. Payments range from $127/month for a 10% disability to $2,769 for a full disability.
This to me seems like an alarming problem. Awareness can bring change but if there are limited and less accessible ways to get information, there has to be a way to make it more accessible, which is where this app comes in.
