by assistanttoauthors

Created on: August 08, 2011

While watching television the other day I saw a show called "Stand Down".  This show was about bringing all of the services together to help homeless Veterans from all wars, past and present. They built a tent city and housed over 900 Veterans of Foreign Wars. They were able to be fed, showered and helped with all phases of their needs for one weekend only. It was very uplifting until I realized this was only for one weekend. There were only 66 open spots for help of an intensive nature, where they are housed for up to 6-months and given help with drug and alcohol problems, post-tramatic syndrome, loss of families, loss of jobs, getting medical benefits, food stamps, housing, just to name a few. The program directors interviewed each and everyone of them only to inform most of them they were not good candidates.

I would like to build tent cities all over the United States that are permanent for these Vets until they are healed and have a good job. Why not? We can spend money in Phoenix, Arizona on tent cities to house prisoners, we can build them for the safety of our homeless veterans. The gentleman running the "Stand Down" operation said after Vietnam it would take several years for these vets to become homeless, now they are homeless as soon as their mustering out money has been spent, sometimes very foolishly. 

I have a plan to put these Vets back to work. When Spain adopted the Euro many companies went belly up. Spain gave whatever money was coming to workers through unemployment, welfare, etc. in one lump sum on the condition they would buy up some of these companies and put people to work with ESOPS, ( Employee-Owned Companies). I feel that working with the SBA and giving micro-loans of say $5,000 dollars to be paid back through payroll deduction and joining say 200 Veterans to buy or build a company to produce solar panels, or wind turbines as an example and installing them. The way the Small Business Administration works is you go to your bank and get turned down and then the Government will back your loan that you receive from your bank. If you have a business plan and either a building or an empty piece of land to build on they will then give you equipment loans. Example Nomaste' Solar in Colorado is where the President signed the Stimulus Package. This company has a great business plan that could be an example of how to set up an employee-owned business. Those who work for these companies as owner/workers retire earlier with more money and are more loyal. 

Since it takes all levels of expertise to run one of these companies from the Board Room to the Mail Room and everything in between and Veterans are very used to working as a team, this would have to be done locally preferably around bases where they already live and are also homeless after leaving the service. I think this could be the ticket to put others back to work, also. We have to do something about this unemployment situation and I want to see legislation passed to put people back to work, especially Veterans and family men who have mouths to feed, house and children to send to school. I have sent this idea to every person I can think of in Congress the White House and no response from anyone. I have talked about it on C-span numerous times hoping someone would pick it up and run with it. I need to start something to get this off the ground like a petition to be signed by all.

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