DALLAS — Homelessness and poverty plague the U.S. military veteran population at much larger percentages than the rest of the civilian population. But a group of tech industry entrepreneurs and corporate donors hope that arming those veterans with the proper economic and educational ammunition can help reverse that trend.
Active duty military in the United States usually numbers less than one percent of the total population. According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, about 11% of the adult homeless population are veterans. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates that 40,056 veterans are homeless on any given night.
"The brotherhood is real," said Mark Casper, a U.S. Marine veteran and former tech industry executive who searched for a way to help that brotherhood.
He is now the executive director of Tech for Troops, a non-profit based in Richmond, Virginia whose goal is to get laptop computers, internet access, and all the job-training and job-search abilities they can bring into the hands of as many veterans as possible.
"It's for you to transform your life and take you to the next level," Casper told a group of 75 veterans earlier this week at the Veterans Resource Center in Dallas as they received free refurbished laptops from Toyota North America.
"The impact we are making across the nation is really unbelievable," Casper said. "I hope they understand that the tool that they're getting is truly a tool and it can lift them out of poverty or homelessness."
Like the homelessness that found Hazel Jackson.
"That actually was like total homelessness right during that time," Jackson said of the brief time in her life after the military service when she was forced to move from hotel to hotel.
The retired Army nurse lives on Social Security and a disability pension. She's now working her way through college hoping that a mouse and cursor can lead to an actual job.
"Some of us can't afford computers and some of us are pretty much computer illiterate," said U.S. Army veteran Christopher Barr, who is also disabled and searching for full-time work.
"It's a blessing," he said of the free computer and training. "I've been blessed. The Lord has been great. And this facility and the VA has been great."
In two years, Tech for Troops has given out more than 1,400 computers to veterans. The organization relies on donations of corporate sponsors like Toyota North America whose tech staff also helped coordinate the computer giveaway event.
"We do it to help the veterans utilize them for job search and other things to help them get back on their feet," said James Havens, a group manager in the information systems division of Toyota North America. "We are committed to supporting the veteran community through efforts like today's event as well as through direct employment and indirect through our dealership network."
Nearly 5% of the Toyota North American workforce self-identifies as veterans.
"It's going to be very beneficial and it's going to be wonderful," added veteran Christopher Barr, who hopes to continue online courses and eventually find work as a chef.
The gift of a computer, he hopes, gives him the second fighting chance he needs.