"Health & Medical News"

A night of living on the street helped motivate recovering addict Felix Middleton to help out some fellow New Yorkers by using his fashion skills to make sleeping bags for the homeless, the New York Times reported Dec. 3.

Middleton, a Fashion Institute of Technology graduate who is receiving addiction treatment at Phoenix House, worked with the rehabilitation program to get a sewing machine and stitch old comforters into 30 sleeping bags, which he recently handed out to homeless people on the streets.

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A new Gallup poll finds that most Americans think homelessness is largely caused by alcohol and other drug abuse, but still think more should be done to address the problem, the Associated Press reported Nov. 14.

The poll, funded by mortgage company Fannie Mae, found that more than 80 percent of the 1,000 people polled blamed addiction for causing homelessness, while about 70 percent cited mental illness. By comparison, only 67 percent thought homelessness was caused by insufficient income, and 65 percent cited job loss.

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A study by the National Alliance to End Homelessness finds that about one in four homeless Americans are veterans, and that more veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are starting to show up in homeless shelters and soup kitchens, the Associated Press reported Nov. 7.

Veterans comprise about 11 percent of the general U.S. population.

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