Cincinnati car donation helps homeless veterans during the holidays
Why donating your car may be the best give you give this season
For families everywhere, the holidays — with all the travel, parties, shopping, cooking and emotional reunions that accompany them — can be fraught with stress, tension and anxiety.
For our community's homeless veterans, however, this time of year can be especially devastating. In 2013, 7,062 people in Hamilton County experienced homelessness, and nine percent of them (about 635) were veterans. In other words, hundreds of homeless veterans spend their holidays on the streets, with no shelter, family or meals in sight.
As you plan out your list of gifts to give this holiday season, we encourage you to consider donating your car to Volunteers of America of Greater Ohio. Your car donation goes a long way toward helping our volunteers provide services to homeless veterans year-round, and it might just be the easiest and most meaningful gift you give this year.
Here are five facts about homeless veterans that might surprise you.
- One in five homeless adults in the U.S. is a veteran.
- In the U.S., nearly 62,000 veterans are homeless on any given night and twice as many experience homelessness at some point during a year. VOAGO serves more than 1,800 veterans in Ohio each year.
- Currently, the number of homeless Vietnam-era veterans is higher than the number of servicemen and women who died during the Vietnam war, and veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are already appearing among the homeless population.
- A complex set of factors cause veterans to become homeless, including: a shortage of affordable housing, difficulty finding employment, lack of access to health care, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and a lack of family and social support networks.
- VOAGO has offered targeted veterans' programs since 1992, and is the leading human services provider to homeless veterans in the Cincinnati metro area. These include emergency housing, treatment programs and wrap-around supportive services for veterans and their families.
Search "donate my car" to find out how you can help
The good news: You can help. The holidays are a perfect time to make a donation to VOAGO that could positively impact homeless veterans and their families. Do you have a vehicle that has been sitting idly in your garage, driveway, or in a storage facility? How about a boat, RV, tractor, or motorcycle (practically anything with a motor)? Now is your chance to help make Christmas better for Cincinnati's homeless veterans by donating it to Volunteers of America of Greater Ohio in Cincinnati.
We'll arrange free same-day towing, and what's more, you might even end up making more off of your vehicle as a tax-deductible donation than you would from selling it privately.
Your donations will help families, children, and veterans have a happier holiday in all of the Ohio communities we serve.
If you have any questions, contact the Car Donation & Auction Office at 800-862-6030, or fill out the car donation form.