SAN ANTONIO- The latest numbers from President Barack Obama show nearly 900-thousand veterans are unemployed. Now the White House is working on ways to get our country's hero's back to work. President Obama has unveiled a plan that would get more than 200,000 veterans back to work. The plan would also offer tax credit incentives for employers hiring the veterans.
But a Vietnam veteran who has been living at Haven for Hope, a non-profit agency that offers housing and other assistance for the homeless says the plan doesn't help vets from his era.
His name is TJ Manning. He is a proud marine with a master’s degree in clinical psychology that has been living at Haven for Hope for about a year. He said he is like many Americans in the sense that he is a product of our nation's suffering economy.
“Instability in employment lead to instability in housing,” said Manning.
President Obama's proposal includes a $2400 dollar tax credit for employers who hire veterans out of work for at least four weeks. The plan also includes a $5600 dollar incentive to hire a vet out of work for at least 6 months, and doubling the existing tax credit for hiring a disabled veteran unemployed for at least 6-months.
Now that TJ has heard about the president’s plan to get veteran's back to work, he has plenty of questions before he can believe it could be successful.
“When you say a bill for veterans you are intending to seem very inclusive,” said Manning.
He adds that the plan to put veterans back to work is aimed at soldiers returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan and not for older veterans.
An estimated 45 veterans who live at Haven for Hope served in Vietnam and the first Gulf War. A social worker who works with veterans at the non-profit shares the challenges veterans faces in their search for employment.
Blanca Rosa Braswell said, “They are not the first generation of workers coming out of college right now”.
Braswell adds aside from the age factor, there is so much more facing veterans that have been out of work for some time, including mental health and substance abuse.
Manning agrees.
“But there is still a lot that needs to be done to really make whole the people who have born the cost of our wars,” said Manning.
National Resource Directory can help veterans find jobs
One of the tools created to help our heroes find jobs when they get home is called the National Resource Directory.
Veterans can put in information like what they did while serving our country and find jobs that need people with those skills sets. It also allows employers to post jobs for veterans.
The tool is easy to use. Just go to
nationalresourcedirectory.gov.
