Housing Assistance Council researchers worry that officials in Sandusky County, Ohio, don't know how many Iraq War veterans are living in their towns.
Or that commissioners in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, don't know how many veterans there have only a high school degree.
Or that community organizers in Arkansas don't know what the average annual income for veterans in their state is.
So the council has organized thousands of pages of census and other demographic information into a single site in an effort to better equip would-be advocates with the latest data on veterans in their community.
The work is available at www.veteransdata.info.
"Our experience has been that a lot of this data is difficult for people to get to," Lance George, the council's director of research and information, said. "And increasingly, it's a data-driven world. To get support, people want a more sound understanding of ... the problems facing veterans."
The resource, funded through support from JPMorgan Chase, includes information on veterans economic indicators, service details, Department of Veteran Affairs Department home loans and housing problems.
Much of the data is based on 2-year-old U.S. Census Bureau reports, but George said the site will be updated with the latest public information as it is released by federal officials.
Some of those reports are easily accessible, and some require "statistical contortions," according to George. By consolidating it, HAC officials hope to spur more discussion of, and action on, the information.
The group also has created individual state reports with a broad overview of the veterans population to get those conversations started.
For the record, according to HAC data, Ohio's Sandusky County has 439 Iraq and Afghanistan war-era veterans, Pennsylvania's Montgomery County has 15,544 veterans with only a high school degree and the average annual income for veterans in Arkansas is the second lowest of any state, at $47,182.
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
