GREY'S ANATOMY to Raise Awareness for Homeless Veterans

Thursday's episode of "Grey's Anatomy" will include a storyline about a homeless veteran who enters Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital after being carjacked and losing everything she owns. The idea for this storyline was sparked from a White House tweet that "Grey's Anatomy" creator Shonda Rhimes saw a few months ago regarding the drop in homelessness for US Veterans during the current Obama administration. Rhimes then contacted First Lady Michelle Obama and her Joining Forces team to discuss how her show could bring awareness to the topic. The hour long episode will highlight the resources available for homeless veterans in the United States. "I really wanted to use the episode to highlight both the importance of remembering and respecting the sacrifice of men and women who served and illuminating some of the challenges veterans face upon coming home," said Rhimes.

First Lady Michelle Obama was also excited about bringing awareness to the issue. "I'm so pleased that Grey's Anatomy is raising awareness about our homeless veterans. I'm constantly inspired by the stories of courage and selflessness that define our veterans and their families, and the idea that anyone who has served and sacrificed for our country spends their nights sleeping on the ground should horrify us all. As President, my husband vowed not just to address veteran homelessness, but end it once and for all. And over the past five years, he's cut through red tape, directed record funding to veteran programs, and we're seeing powerful results. This is a solvable problem. And I applaud the efforts of Grey's Anatomy to raise awareness about this issue. It will take all of us, but together we can right this wrong and ensure that all of our veterans have a place to call home."

This special episode of "Grey's Anatomy" entitled, "Don't' Let's Start," will air THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6 (8:00-9:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

"Grey's Anatomy" stars Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey, Patrick Dempsey as Derek Shepherd, Justin Chambers as Alex Karev, Chandra Wilson as Miranda Bailey, James Pickens, Jr. as Richard Webber, Sara Ramirez as Callie Torres, Kevin McKidd as Owen Hunt, Jessica Capshaw as Arizona Robbins, Jesse Williams as Jackson Avery, Sarah Drew as April Kepner, Caterina Scorsone as Amelia Shepherd, Camilla Luddington as Jo Wilson, and Jerrika Hinton as Stephanie Edwards.

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