Supporting Veterans on Veterans Day
November 11 is Veterans Day. On this day and every day at S:US, we honor and support veterans. As with all the people we serve, we believe veterans deserve to live with dignity.
S:US will participate in the Veterans Day Parade on Saturday. The NYC parade is the largest Veterans Day commemoration in the nation. Nearly 300 elements consisting of 20,000 marchers and 150+ vehicles will proceed up New York City’s Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The parade was first organized to honor veterans of World War I. Now, it honors the veterans of all the wars that followed, some 17 million, nationwide. When we march in the parade, we are not just honoring veterans, we are helping to raise awareness for the issues they face every day on the home front.
Reintegration to civilian life is the toughest challenge veterans face. This is true for those who served decades ago or in recent conflicts. Seventy percent live with chronic mental illness and substance use disorders. Of the nearly 3,000 veterans and their families we serve, most satisfy the federal guidelines for “very low-income.” Outside of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, S:US is one of the largest veterans’ services providers in New York City.
S:US partners with nearly 3,000 veterans and their families to prevent homelessness, provide rapid rehousing support, find employment opportunities, and access resources. S:US also provides behavioral health services to help veterans plan for long-term stability. S:US strives to end homelessness among veterans in our community and to develop systems which ensure that any new instances of homelessness are rare, brief, and non-recurring. We invite you to read our white paper on Supporting Veterans and Ending Veteran Homelessness.
Our core mission of driving scalable solutions to transform the lives of people with disabilities, people in poverty and people facing homelessness is grounded on embracing solutions that contribute to social justice and create opportunities for all. Our veterans have served our country and placed their lives on the line. They deserve to have homes, find stability, and live their lives with purpose. We all do.