In the News...
 | Increasing Homeless Rates 'Alarming' Number of homeless families with children is on the rise across the country. More families with children are becoming homeless as they face mounting economic pressures, including mortgage foreclosures, according to a USA TODAY survey of a dozen of the largest cities in the nation. Montana has also seen sharp increases in the number of families experiencing homelessness or at high risk for becoming homeless. Click to learn more. |
 | MTVF Thrift Store News 1400 Joslyn St, on the way to Spring Meadow Lake Don Ward, manager of the Montana Veterans Foundation Thrift Store, which opened August 31, 2009, inspects some of the items that are sold at the Joslyn Street store. Mr. Ward, who was homeless, now lives independently and helps offer advice and adheres to the needs of other vets. |
| Happy Birthday, Willis Cruse House! On May 21st, 2008, Willis Cruse House celebrated its fourth anniversary. The residents and staff of Willis Cruse House celebrated its fourth birthday, and its second anniversary at 1112 Leslie Avenue. |
 | DAV applauds Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) in addressing the unique needs of our women veterans by introducing the Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act next week. Disabled American Veterans Hails Historic Legislation Addressing Health Care Needs... |
 | Are you homeless or at risk? If you or a loved one is at risk of becoming homeless, or is currently experiencing homelessness, we may be able to help. |
 | Disabled American Veterans get responses from Presidential Candidates Curious where the Presidential candidates stand on veterans issues? The DAV sent specific questions pertaining to veterans' issues to both Presidential candidates. Click to read their responses. |
| DAV survey shows public wants to help veterans According to a recent study, the vast majority of Americans believe that providing medical care to injured, sick and disabled veterans should be one of the nation’s top priorities. Survey Shows Most Americans Want Government to Stand Up for Veterans WASHINGTON—Americans believe that providing medical care to injured, sick and disabled veterans should be near the top of our nation’s priorities, in line with resolving the war in Iraq and lowering gas prices, according to a new nationwide survey. What’s more, three-quarters of the public think the federal government is not doing enough to support military veterans. Click to read the full report. |
 | New York Times report: traumatic brain injury oven overlooked in returning war veterans Former Staff Sgt. Kevin Owsley is not quite sure what rattled his brain in 2004: the roadside bomb that exploded about a yard from his Humvee or the rocket-propelled grenade that flung him across a road as he walked to a Porta Potti on base six weeks late But more than three years after coming home, Mr. Owsley’s days have been irrevocably changed by the explosions. He struggles to unscramble his memory and thoughts. He often gets lost on the road, even with directions. He writes all his appointments down but still forgets a few. He wears a hearing aid, cannot bear sunlight on his eyes, still succumbs to nightmares and considers four hours of sleep a night a gift. Mr. Owsley is part of a growing tide of combat veterans who come home from Iraq and Afghanistan with mild traumatic brain injuries, or concussions, caused by powerful explosions. As many as 300,000, or 20 percent, of combat veterans who regularly worked outside the wire, away from bases, have suffered at least one concussion, according to the latest Pentagon estimates. About half the soldiers get better within hours, days or several months and require little if any medical assistance. But tens of thousands of others have longer-term problems that can include, to varying degrees, persistent memory loss, headaches, mood swings, dizziness, hearing problems and light sensitivity. These symptoms, which may be subtle and may not surface for weeks or months after their return, are often debilitating enough to hobble lives and livelihoods. To this day, some veterans — it is impossible to know how many — remain unscreened, their symptoms undiagnosed. Mild brain injury was widely overlooked by the military and the veterans health system until recently. |
 | Shinseki to lead Veterans Affairs President-elect Barack Obama introduces retired Army Gen. Eric K. Shinseki as his nominee to head the Department of Veterans Affairs, bringing to his Cabinet a career military officer best known for running afoul of the Bush administration by questi With this appointment, Obama brings to his Cabinet a career military officer best known for running afoul of the Bush administration by questioning the Pentagon's Iraq war strategy. |
 | Petition to the President and Congress to stand up for our veterans Make your opinion count! More than 300,000 veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), severe depression and other conditions that could require a lifetime of care. Yet the federal government is not providing sufficient, timely, and predictable funding to treat their visible and invisible wounds of war. Uncertainty about funding due to political wrangling could block thousands of veterans from receiving the health care they deserve. |