Thousands of America's heroes homeless

Study: Many of homeless are vets

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- More than 25 percent of the homeless population in the
United States are war veterans, although they represent only 11 percent of
the civilian adult population, according to a report to be released
Thursday.

On any given night last year, nearly 196,000 veterans slept on the street,
in a shelter or in transitional housing, the study by the Homelessness
Research Institute found.

"Veterans make up a disproportionate share of homeless people," the report
said.

"This is true despite the fact that veterans are better educated, more
likely to be employed and have a lower poverty rate than the general
population."

The National Alliance to End Homelessness includes the Homelessness
Research Institute as its research and education arm.

"These findings highlight the need to provide veterans with the proper
housing and supportive services to prevent homelessness from occurring in
the first place," said Nan Roman, the organization's president. "If we can
do that, then we can greatly reduce the number of homeless veterans in
general."

About 44,000 to 64,000 veterans are classified as "chronically homeless"
-- homeless for long periods or repeatedly.

Other veterans -- nearly 468,000 -- are experiencing "severe housing cost
burden," or paying more than half their income for housing, thereby
putting them at a high risk for homelessness.

At the National Alliance to End Homelessness event, Fannie Mae will
announce a $200,000 grant to the Common Ground organization that will
enable the construction of more permanent housing units for veterans.

"Our veterans have served America, and America must serve them," said
Daniel Mudd, president and CEO of Fannie Mae, in a statement.

Common Ground is a nonprofit developer of housing and other solutions to
prevent and end homelessness, according to the Fannie Mae statement.