Final Salute Inc: Providing Safe & Suitable Housing For Homeless Female Veterans

Final Salute is the Beneficiary of the Ms Veteran America competition. All proceeds from the event will aid in continuing to provide homes for homeless female Veterans and their children. www.finalsaluteinc.org

Final Salute Inc. was founded in 2010 by a Female Veteran and cancer survivor who became aware of the large number of homeless female Veterans. There are currently over 55,000 homeless female Veterans nationwide. Over half of all homeless female Veterans are single mothers. Final Salute Inc. was formed to fill a critical need for an organization that was actively engaged and designed to meet the evolving and unique needs of homeless Female Veterans and their children. While our Veterans are no longer serving on the front lines in foreign wars, our homeless female Veterans are at the back of the line when seeking housing and other supportive services.

Final Salute Inc. is the only organization in the DC Metro Area and only one of a handful across the nation that specifically supports the housing needs of homeless Female Veterans and their children. You can also support them through CFC#57897.

More than 60 percent of surveyed Grant Per Diem (GPD) programs that serve homeless female Veterans do not house children. Most programs that did house children had very limited restrictions.  GPD providers cite a lack of housing for women with children as a significant barrier to accessing veteran housing.  Limited housing for women and their children puts these families at risk of remaining homeless.  Homeless women veterans cite safety concerns about GPD housing.  -­‐U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)
 
Unfortunately, neither VA nor HUD collects date on the total number of homeless women veterans in the general population. Further, they lack date on the characteristics and needs of these women on a national, state and local level.  Absent more complete data, VA does not have the information needed to plan services effectively, to allocate grants for providers and track progress toward its overall goal of ending veteran homelessness by 2015. -­ U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)
 
Women veterans express a desire for sex-segregated residential centers staffed by qualified individuals who sensitive to the female Veteran culture.  Women, especially those with a history of Military Sexual Trauma(MST) and domestic violence, report feeling more secure and comfortable in a female-only environment. Locating centers in safer residential areas, away from drug dealers and violence is also important. – Department of Labor, Women’s Bureau

 

 

 

- Female Veterans are 3 times more likely to be homeless than their male counterparts. ­‐HUD/VA Joint  Study
- Female Veterans are also 4 times more likely to be homeless when compared to female non-veterans in the U.S. and female non-veterans in the poverty population. - HUD/VA Joint Study