We wanted you to know why a team of successful Patriots volunteer their time and networks to benefit our military Veterans. We know so much because of the Veterans we have on our board who are military-culturally competent leading the fund to offer some facts that drive us to do what we can each and every day.

At The Patriot Fund, we realize there are countless problems that face our heros once returning home from deployment, and this is why we do what we do – to help our Veterans live more fulfilling lives in hopes the following statistics will be a thing of the past!

Some of the core issues that US Veterans face that The Patriot Fund is determined to help lessen are:

  1. Suicide
  2. Homelessness
  3. Substance Use Disorders (SUDs)
  4. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  5. Military Sexual Trauma (MST)

DID YOU KNOW?

Suicide:

1. A Veteran commits suicide every 65 minutes in America totaling 20% of all suicides in America. The DOD reports that death by suicide for young service members was well over double the rate of civilians.

2. The rate of suicide among women Veterans was 2.1x times higher than female non-Veterans. 71% of all female Veterans seeking treatment for PTSD have experienced Military Sexual Trauma and that number is likely low because of under reporting due to retaliation and organizational minimization.

3. Overall suicide rates within the United States have increased by 30% between 1999 and 2016. A study involving 27 states estimated 17.8% of these recorded suicides were by Veterans. 

4. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) published data in 2016 that indicated Veteran suicide rates were 1.5 times greater than non-Veterans. Research has shown that Veterans are at significantly increased risk of suicide during their first year outside of the military.

5. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for post-9/11 Veterans, accounting for 22.3% of all deaths.

6. The rate of suicide for Veterans in the LGBTQ+ community is up to 7x higher than for non-LGBTQ+ Veterans.

7. Veterans are at 50% higher risk of suicide than their peers who have not served.

Homelessness:

1. 26% of the homeless US population are Veterans amounting to 37,000 homeless Veterans in America.

2. 24% of the nation’s homeless live in California, and 29% of the nation’s homeless Veterans live in California.

3. Among Veterans experiencing homelessness, 59% are age 51 or older.

4. Between 2009 and 2016, there was a 54% increase in the number of Veterans age 62 or older experiencing homelessness.

Substance Use Disorders (SUDs):

1. More than 1-in-10 U.S. Veterans have been diagnosed with a substance abuse disorder.

2. More than 20% of all Veterans with PTSD also struggle with substance abuse challenges, referred to clinically as “substance use disorders.”

3. Among Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan war, 63% were diagnosed with substance abuse problems were also diagnosed with PTSD.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):

1. Nearly 20% of military Veterans suffer from PTSD.

2. In a 2017 study involving 5,826 US Veterans, 12.9% were diagnosed with PTSD.

2. In a 2014 study involving 3,157 US Veterans, 87% reported exposure to at least one potentially traumatic event. On average, Veterans reported 3.4 potentially traumatic events during their lifetime.

Military Sexual Trauma (MST):

1. Roughly 20% of women and 1% of men are sexually assaulted in a physical way during their military service. When verbal trauma is involved, the numbers rise substantially to 20% of males and 70% of females, and both types of assault can occur on or off base, and while a veteran is on or off duty.

2. More than 40% of female Veterans report experiencing military sexual harassment or military sexual trauma.

3. 55% of female Veterans and 38% of male Veterans experienced sexual harassment while serving in the military. More than half of Veterans with military sexual trauma are men.

The issues mentioned above that our Veteran community faces are just the tip of the iceberg.

At this critical time, The Patriot Fund is committed to embellish the work of the Veterans Association through our network of Operational Partners. Delivering intervention and treatment, The Patriot Fund is Standing in the Boots of our Veterans Commitment whenever possible. Through this, we are confident we will save more Veteran’s lives and leave lasting positive impacts on the lives of their spouses, children, families and friends.

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Sources:

The Patriot Fund, Inc. | P.O. Box 1818 | Mount Laurel, NJ 08054
Tax-ID: 82-1481089 | admin@patriotfundinc.org

The Patriot Fund is a tax-exempt charitable organization under the 501(c)3 Internal Revenue Code.

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