Preventing Homelessness for Veterans

In the UK there are very few street homeless veterans.  I use the word street advisedly.  

Firstly a number of charities are extremely good at housing street homeless; as are we, when they present as such.  There is however a much more difficult homeless epidemic to get to grips with.  It is generally hidden, affects younger veterans on the whole, and has huge family repercussions.

Sofa surfing.

This is not some student craze, nor something that most veterans will admit to, but it is on the rise.  As no fault divorce becomes law (and there is currently a backlog in the process); as the job becomes all important to hold on to at the risk of relationship or the rent, we are seeing a huge increase in sofa surfing.  Individuals staying with family and friends - on the sofa - whilst they try and hold it all together. It is difficult to deal with and takes time - as the options ironically, are not as clear cut to deal with as with street homeless.  The ripple effect too is often much worse, with families, children feeling the very real emotional and security cost.

So help us be part of the good news!  With your support we can save lives:

Veteran X came to the Hub to socialize and take part in activities. It was soon discovered this veteran was homeless and needed help with somewhere to live and sorting out their benefit claims. FirstLight Trust worked with local housing authorities to help secure a property and sort their benefits whilst seeking support through FirstLight Trust with their budgetting.

Veteran X now has a doctor and dentist as well as weekly activities socializing. This has resulted in Veteran X becoming settled with stability in their life, their anxiety is very low and, they have better positive daily well-being,  And they have gone on to hold a volunteering role within the community.

Veteran X stated without the support of Firstlight Trust they don’t think they would be here today.