Homeless Veteran Numbers Drop By 55,000: VA

By Molly O'Toole

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of homeless veterans on any given night has dropped by over 55,000, the Department of Veterans Affairs said on Friday, due in part to programs like the $46.2 million announced Thursday to provide permanent housing for 6,790 homeless veterans.

Despite a still-stagnant economy and increased troop drawdowns leading to potentially higher numbers of homeless veterans, VA Deputy Press Secretary Drew Brookie said the number of veterans that are homeless each night has dropped from an estimated 131,000 in 2009 to 75,700 as of June this year.

But continued pressure on this targeted group makes Thursday's funding fundamental to the Obama Administration's goal of ending veteran homelessness by 2015, according to Anne Oliva, director of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's homeless office.

"It's a critical time," Oliva told Reuters Friday. "We have veterans that are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan that are potentially becoming homeless in higher numbers than they have in the past. This new influx of people ... we want to try and get in front of it."

The $46.2 million will go to public housing agencies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

"We're reducing the time it takes to get veterans into homes," Brookie told Reuters Friday.

The funding is part of the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki announced the grants Thursday morning.

They are the first of two rounds of funding that will allocate the $50 million appropriated to fight veteran homelessness in Fiscal Year 2011.

Participating veterans in the HUD-VASH program generally contribute no more than 30 percent of their income toward rental of privately owned housing, according to the HUD.

The program is coordinated by HUD, the VA and local housing authorities.

"Now we know what works," Oliva said. "This is the time; we have the resources ... having one veteran homeless is too many."

(Editing by Jerry Norton)

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[no2play]

01:17 AM on 09/01/2011

What is it when you go down and sign up for help from the va for houseing since your husband has mental issues and can't work .But he served our country for everyone.Where is the help?
But you live in a rv in monterey,ca.Even tho you have two move it every 72 hours.They tell you that's ok at least you have some place to stay even tho you have been on the wating list at houseing since 2007. Since you couldn't afford to make the house payments any more on ssi.Then they take your ssi away since your married and you have to go back to work even tho your sick..Then the state decides to cut your pay check down to nothing because of state cuts where's the help?It sure isn't in ca.No food stamps because you have to many assets so you get to go to the food bank for help to feed your husband while you do without. So I can't stand anyone saying there is help out here cause I sure haven't seen it.Since I don't have any children under 18.

[Diana Georgina]

10:12 PM on 07/19/2011

The Imperialists use you, homeless should not be in your lexicon.

[mystshy]

12:55 PM on 07/19/2011

THERE S/B NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOMELESS VETS,,,,,,,,,,,

HOUSE THEM ON ARMY BASES,TILL THEY R BACK ON THEIR FEET................

[janemarple]

11:06 PM on 07/17/2011

I have seen vets come into my local public health center for treatment, only to be told to go the the V.A. clinic, at least 20 miles away. Many of them don't even have bus fare. As they leave, they glance at a waiting room filled with 'undocumented workers' waiting for their free health care..
What a country !

[jimtodd]

02:15 PM on 07/17/2011

The VA disability pension is $11,820/year for a single person. There are very few places where one can survive on that amount, let alone "live."

[TimeMaster]

03:20 PM on 07/16/2011

Did they actually get into housing or is this on the way? This was in originally in the budget and there was debate earlier about cutting this out as part of the deficit reduction plan. Good news if they are actually off the streets and taken care of. Finally the correct "right" thinking in Washington for those who served the country and fell on hard times.

[Jayjaybe]

04:46 PM on 07/16/2011

There's much gray area about "homeless". I live between two major, long-established VA hospitals. Vets in pickup campers, various sizes of RVs and trailers like to park in the general area, in the safer neighborhoods near small strip malls. They like to stay in small groups for safety but minimal nuisance while they're not at the hospitals for treatment. They keep to themselves. No way to know how many have actual housing anywhere. It's been this way since Vietnam.

[ladyrosedeky]

01:57 PM on 07/16/2011

But if they drive over the debt cliff that they seem to want to drive over, there will be a lot more than veterans and the current homeless that we have now. And probably no money to fund this valuable program.

[ladyrosedeky]

01:35 PM on 07/16/2011

It's nice to know that fewer of our vets are homeless. Hopefully this is one program that they won't slash. After all they've sacrificed and how little jobs are available and pay right now, it's not too much to offer to them. Hopefully, they will cut subsidies to gas and oil companies and their own perks instead.

[Vetman2]

01:05 PM on 07/16/2011

why is there a media blackout on the truth about the "real" V.A.? aolhuffpost, you have an opportunity to lift this blackout. do the right thing. let Vets tell the truth. i read the contract i signed when i voluntarily enlisted. i know what it said. i wasn't paid much when i served, why do i have to "fight" for my benefits? the V.A. "disappeared" my real medical records to prevent me from collecting my basic benefits. and have continually lied about my medical condition. do civilians know that the V.A. have actuaries that know your real medical condition and will delay disability appeals until, you guessed it, die. once you die, your appeal ends. no back pay for your family, nothing. afterall, you are dead, case closed. stop lying to the public. stop covering up the truth. i know this will never be posted. politicians do nothing. i wrote to my "so-called", reps. including John McCain. his repply was a meaningless form letter, saying he could do nothing. surprised? aolhuffpost, why did you only have this thread on the main for a couple of hours, then bury it? create a permanent Veterans section. don't we deserve it?

[ladyrosedeky]

01:41 PM on 07/16/2011

Yes you do. Have you tried writing to the president and vice-president? I know many vets have been waiting three and four years for their disability to come through and it is time for it to end. My son was blessed and he got his quickly. I don't know if it makes a difference in the branch that you serve. I know the Marines have an advocacy group independent from the V.A. that helps work through the process, which fortunately for my son, he served in the Marines. All of you waiting for your payments are in my prayers. God bless!!

[tnlcallen]

05:46 AM on 07/17/2011

Did you ever consider the fact that maybe you aren't entitled to the disability payments? I doubt the VA has conspired to prevent just you from getting a disability payment. I applied for and got a 30% disability rating. No problems, no long waits.

[Artos]

11:55 AM on 07/16/2011

As a Veteran, let me just say this warms my hearts cockles, but the fact is that having anybody homeless is a disgrace to this country. Having children go to bed hungry is a disgrace to this country. Having countless people dying for want of proper medical care because Republicans would rather spend money making war is a disgrace to America. As a Veteran let me just say that I am not proud of the direction this nation is going in. To take a line from "Saving Private Ryan" . In the words of Captain John H. Miller, our nations leaders, are not "Earning it". The Nation we fought for is not what we got. It is a disgrace.

[R Davis]

12:24 PM on 07/16/2011

Amen..

[tnlcallen]

05:49 AM on 07/17/2011

The wars are being managed by Democrats now, and have been for 3 years, and maybe you didn't realize but they created a new one for us as well. You can't blame just the Republicans for this one.

[Artos]

10:35 AM on 07/17/2011

No, maybe you can't, but I can. While it is true that Obama hasn't put an end to the first two and has even gotten us into at least assisting in the Libya civil war, it was the Republicans who initiated this trend. The fact that we are still in the first two is largely due to their continuing desire and pressure to remain involved in the ones they created. do you think that they are against all three wars? No, they are only against the one Obama is involved in. Theirs they like. They don't mind our continuing to spend gobs of money there because it is their contractors who are all lined up keep the Federal dollars flowing into their coffers. Plus there is the added benefit of acquiring all the goodies they had their hearts set on in the first place. Oil and other tangible resources. You can bet that these things are still on their minds. No you will never convince me that these wars are now owned by Obama. They still have the stink of Republican on them. As for Obama, there are plenty of other things to blame him for and these I will also take into account. Let me just say this. I am not pleased with much that either of our Glorious two Parties are up to. Neither has shown me much.

[roseau]

11:55 AM on 07/16/2011

I see these programs at work in my community, with studio apartments in a lovely building downtown being renovated to accommodate some of the homeless veterans in our area. My neighborhood has a privately owned and run boarding home for disabled vets - private but their rent is paid by govt services. The real thing here is good organizations locally taking advantage of the state and fed programs, PLUS a town that is not poisoned by a NIMBY attitude towards our most vulnerable citizens. As with so many things, the rest of us need to speak up to help make things happen and not prevent services and housing from being delivered in our communities. But my anecdotal experience here, in my own city, supports what this headline is saying.

[lesleypalmer]

12:30 PM on 07/16/2011

Kudos to your community.

[Jayjaybe]

04:52 PM on 07/16/2011

Fortunately, my community is similarly on-board, although the influence of two major VA treatment centers in the vicinity has probably enhanced the awareness of local communities.

[HollyBelle]

11:53 AM on 07/16/2011

This is Fantastic !!! Why has this effort NOT been done before?? The best news out there!!! God bless these men for all their efforts and also their suffering after the wars. They deserve continued financial aid toward housing; it's the least we can do as a nation to show them our gratitude!!

[FunkSands]

11:38 AM on 07/16/2011

A very welcome piece of news.  One of the first initiatives of the President was against homelessness.  Glad to see it is apparently working.

[valuelines]

11:20 AM on 07/16/2011

Seems to me this is a 'Political Persuasion' article to appease the homelss Vet's and make Obama look good. How can ANYONE know exactly how many Vet's are homeless ? Expect more of these 'political calculations' as we go into 2012. I don't believe ANYTHING from either party because they employ professional LIARS to feed crap to the people.

[sixyfivepercentwater]

11:22 AM on 07/16/2011

And there are apparently a lot of journalists who are more than willing to repeat those lies. Obviously, 55,000 people don't just disappear. Did they die? Did they all get jobs? Were they sucked up by the Mothership? The problem with this particular lie is they made the number far too large for anyone with a brain to believe it.

[Jayjaybe]

04:58 PM on 07/16/2011

Many of your instincts are probably more than valid. It's been nearly forty years since Vietnam. That's a long time for a healthy happy human being. Lots of those guys were born before the baby boom or in its early stages. Aging on the streets isn't loaded with upbeat prospects. Here's hoping that dread isn't too accurate. --one of those guys

[Vetman2]

01:32 PM on 07/16/2011

we were silenced when we were active duty, and we are silenced even more so as veterans. this is what we put our lives on the line for?

[jetcal1]

11:24 PM on 07/18/2011

Yes and no. The things that bring immigrants here haven't changed. Gotta take the good with the bad.

[nolibsocialist]

04:59 PM on 08/24/2011

I was never silenced on active duty to include combat and two gunshot wounds. I have never felt silenced as a veteran either. I am not one of those RVN Vets who expected a parade. Yes, I understand how frustrating it can be dealing with the VA. The main big advantage today, it would appear, is that medical records are kept electronically. Hence, lost/misplaced service medical records should not be that bad. Also the VA has opened up many things to include VA medical treatment for those with less then 50% SC since I got out. I kid you not, if you did not have 50% SC disability, you were last. there was no CAT 7 and CAT 8's back in 76. A non service connected Vet could forget the VA back then. I just saw vets of all ages being treated the past few times, and; some VA's have fisher houses now. HUD is working with the homeless. We had a clinic open two days alone for homeless vets. It was some years ago. I never saw many show up. A good place to start is with your state dept of vet affairs. Best wishes.

[sixyfivepercentwater]

11:16 AM on 07/16/2011

Tell us where they all went. Seriously, did you lose that many vets?

[nolibsocialist]

05:25 PM on 08/24/2011

No, They opened up new eligibility categories. The VA is full of 7's and even 8's now. It does favor those of lower means like the homeless as I was waiting in the Er when they asked a well dressed man to fill out the income form. he and the wife left. another man filled it out and was seen according to ER policy.