Gulf War veteran Tinamarie Polverari greeted a fellow resident at Jackie K's House for homeless women veterans.


For these women veterans, a home to call their own
By Brian MacQuarrie
Globe Staff / October 31, 2009

NORTHAMPTON - An oversized stuffed tiger lies across a bedspread in a brightly colored room where Tinamarie Polverari has draped a New York Yankees cap on a lampshade.

She feels safe here.

Polverari, a 38-year-old Army veteran, lives in a duplex cottage run by the nonprofit group Soldier On. A victim of repeated rapes during the Gulf War, she returned in 1993 to an unhinged civilian life of heroin, crack cocaine, and desperate homelessness.

She is among a growing legion of female veterans who have turned to the street after a failed transition from military to civilian life. At a time when women are assuming an ever-expanding role in the armed forces, the number of homeless female veterans is rising.

Women last year accounted for an estimated 5 percent of all homeless veterans, or 6,500 former servicewomen, a figure that is 67 percent higher than the number reported in 2004, according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs. By contrast, the total number of homeless veterans decreased by 33 percent in the same period, to 131,000 from 195,000.


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unhappycamper comment: Somewhere between 25% to 30% of female veterans have been raped or sexually harassed.