From Suicide to Homeless, Vets Need Your Help This Season

As we all clamor for the best Christmas gift deals, many of our Veterans will still be clamoring to make their rent, pay their electricity, feed their families and if lucky, have enough money to provide a Christmas for their children. Not being able to provide this time of year is particularly devastating for our veterans with PTSD especially those suffering with depression and feeling like they “aren’t good enough” because they can’t provide for their families. There are so many ways to give this season, how about giving to a deserving Veteran family in need so they can provide Christmas for their family?

Code of Vets receives multiple requests daily, for assistance with just the basics but when the holidays roll around "going without" is that much more difficult.Take for example this family, who has battled with health issues and homelessness:

You can help a family like this by visiting holidays4vets.com and see the Amazon wish lists these Veterans in need have complied for their children. Code of Vets is a grassroots organization, run by a small core team, that tries every single day to alleviate some of the burdens that our Veterans are facing. Veterans, or people concerned about them, reach out to us through our website, email or on Twitter. They request our help with food, with emergency financial assistance for utilities or rent, with situations of homelessness, with PTSD related issues, or for advice concerning VA claims or medical matters, among many other things. Each Veteran’s situation is different and the solutions can be as simple as a one-time payment of a phone bill so that they can look for a job, or it can be as complicated as finding them permanent housing or helping them navigate the maze of bureaucracy at the VA. We take it one day at a time and help one Veteran at a time, hoping our efforts will get them on a path to wholeness and stability.

We must also remember the number of vet suicides isn't budging either, in some cases it's worsening. The VA report released last month showed rate of suicide rose slightly, with rate still at about 20 deaths per day and veterans are 50% more likely to commit suicide than someone who hasn't served. Last month we had multiple vets reach out to us for crisis intervention after not be able to get through on the VA suicide hotline. We we there for them. It is particularly worse during the holidays so funds provided to help with monetary needs gives us one more way to try to keep their spirits up. Since before Thanksgiving we have seen an uptick in suicidal thoughts in our brothers and sisters in arms.

Our inspiration came from Sgt. Danny E. Smiley, my dad, my Airborne Angel. He was a Bronze Star Medal recpient, a 100 percent disabled Vietnam Veteran - exposed to agent orange. He lost his battle with PTSD at age 57. R.I.P Dad
Gretchen Smith USAF Veteran
Founder, Code of Vets