27 July 2009
Humanitarian Resource Institute
Phone: (203) 668-0282
Url: www.humanitarian.net
United Nations Arts Initiative
Arts Integration Into Education
Url: www.unarts.org
Twitter: unarts
Rock The World: USA: "Bridging Unmet Needs to
Untapped Resources" Artists/professionals, arts organizations,
music labels
(management, arrangers, producers), film production and media companies
join
together to spotlight the size and scope of unmet needs on the
community
level, strategic planning and development, with emphasis on reaching
families in crisis, that have fallen through the cracks.
National Community Support for Wounded Warrior Project
Our members of the armed forces protect all United States
citizens with their lives, it is time that we show respect, honor
and gratitude for their sacrifice. This need has prompted a
national call for all communities, businesses and corporations
to commit special programs
and assistance for current members/veterans of our armed forces, our
most
severely wounded warriors and wounded transitional.
The Wounded Warriors
Project is our focus initiative that supports our most severely
wounded warriors
and wounded transitional.
Additional unmet needs in the spotlight include:
- Jobless rate at 11.2% for veterans of Iraq,
Afghanistan: The 11.2% jobless rate for veterans who served
in Iraq and Afghanistan and who are 18 and older rose 4 percentage
points in the past year. That's significantly higher than the
corresponding 8.8% rate (3.20.2009) for non-veterans in
the same age group, says Labor Department economist Jim Walker. -- Article, USA Today, 20
March 2009. See Also: VetJobs:
America's Premier Job Board for Veterans.
- Untold Mortgage Crisis:
Families
Facing Military Foreclosures: According to
one recent study, the number of foreclosures in military towns are four
times the national average. Why? Because military families were
targeted as customers during the boom in subprime lending. Their
frequent moves, overseas stints, and low pay meant they were likely to
have weak credit ratings. The initial low rates and easy terms of these
loans made them more attractive than the traditional route of taking
out a Veterans Administration (VA) loan. In
fact, at the peak of the U.S. subprime lending, the number of new VA
loans
fell to their lowest level in 12 years. - Article: Veterans
Today,
14 October 2008. See: Crime
Victims of Predatory lending, Humanitarian Resource Institute.
- Homeless
Veterans: The VA estimates that 131,000 veterans are homeless
on any given night. And approximately twice that many experience
homelessness over the course of a year. Conservatively, one out of
every three homeless men who is sleeping in a doorway, alley or
box in our cities and rural communities has put on a uniform and served
this country. The
vast majority are single, most come from poor, disadvantaged
communities,
45 percent suffer from mental illness, and half have substance
abuse
problems. America’s homeless veterans have served in World War II,
Korean
War, Cold War, Vietnam War, Grenada, Panama, Lebanon, Operation
Enduring
Freedom (Afghanistan), Operation Iraqi Freedom, or the military's
anti-drug
cultivation efforts in South America. 47 percent of homeless
veterans
served during the Vietnam Era. National Coalition for Homeless Veterans:
1-800-VET-HELP.
- More
female veterans are winding up homeless; many are single parents:
One out of every 10 homeless vets under the age of 45 is now a woman,
the statistics show. Overall, female veterans are now between two and
four times more likely to end up homeless than their civilian
counterparts, according to the VA, most as a result of the same factors
that contribute to homelessness among male veterans: mental trauma
related to their military service and difficulty transitioning into the
civilian economy. -- Article:
Boston Globe, 2
July 2009.
"When
campaigning, be swift as the wind; in leisurely march, majestic as the
forest; in attack, like fire; in standing, firm as the mountains. As
unfathomable
as the clouds, move like a thunderbolt," to protect the weak.
- Adapted from Sun Tzu. "The Art of War" - The Ultimate Objective:
Humanitarian Resource Institute.
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Thank you for your support of these efforts....
Stephen M. Apatow
Founder, Director of Research & Development
Humanitarian Resource Institute
Humanitarian University Consortium Graduate Studies
Center for Medicine, Veterinary Medicine & Law
Phone: 203-668-0282
Email: s.m.apatow@humanitarian.net
Internet: www.humanitarian.net
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