This was my second visit to the Northeast Georgia Homeless Veteran’s Shelter (NEGHVS) in Winder, GA. RollingOn is privileged to work with NEGHVS, the only rural homeless shelter for veterans in North Georgia. Fawn McKnight, Executive Director at the shelter, said, “We would like to thank RollingOn for their compassion during this difficult time. Their work will go a long way towards serving the over 300 homeless veterans who go through our facility each year. Thank you for helping serve those who served.”

Unknown to many, homelessness is a major problem for veterans. When I learned that veterans make up about one-third of the adult homeless population in America, I quickly realized that RollingOn could help. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) along with the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) have together determined that an estimated “67,000 veterans are homeless on any given night, and over the course of a year, approximately twice that many experience homelessness. ” An additional 1.5 million veterans are at risk of homelessness due to “poverty and lack of support networks.” As I discussed on previous blog posts, rural areas generally have higher rates of poverty than urban ones due to lower average incomes, and they especially lack access to support services and programs. Therefore, these factors only have a greater influence in rural areas, meaning that homelessness is a much bigger concern for rural veterans. RollingOn would like to thank the veterans who have so courageously served our nation. We look forward to making an impact in more rural communities like Winder and further reaching out to veterans struggling with homelessness.