VA Rolls Makes Bold Move To End Veteran Homelessness By 2015

Nearly 30 cities across the country will host awareness initiatives this fall aimed at highlighting local services available to veterans mired in or on the brink of homelessness.

The "Make the Call" campaign is part of the Veterans Administration's push to eliminate veteran homelessness by 2015. These local programs will explore the dimensions of veteran homelessness and encourage community members and military families to contact the the VA's unique toll-free number dedicated to helping homeless veterans and at-risk individuals.

The hotline (877-4AID-VET, or 877-424-3838) is staffed 24/7 by trained specialists and has been active since March 2010.

More than 75,000 veterans are on the streets on a given night, and about 135,000 spent at least one night in a shelter, according to recent homeless count surveys.

"Those who have served this nation as veterans should never find themselves on the streets, living without care and without hope," VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki said in a news release. "Working with our partners in state and local government, the nonprofit and the private sectors, we can restore our homeless veterans and their families to the lives of dignity they've earned."

The "Make a Call" campaign kicks off this week in Alaska before stops in Arizona, California and 19 other states and the District of Columbia. For a full list of cities and dates, visit the VA's Public and Intergovernmental Affairs hub.

The agency has recently charted a new course in its fight against veteran homelessness. For years, the VA focused on providing temporary housing solutions. Today, the focus is on prevention and finding permanent housing for those in need.

Chris Birk is director of communications for the VA Mortgage Center, which specializes in VA loans for veterans and active duty service members.

 

Follow Chris Birk on Twitter: www.twitter.com/cjbirk

Comments

[MHT73]

07:30 PM on 10/16/2011

It's disgraceful that any veteran is homeless, but homelessness is an outcome of the failure of services that would keep veterans housed.

We particularly need more programs to address the problems that lead to homelessness in the first place: job loss, PTSD, and traumatic brain injuries. Congress needs to start fully funding these programs, and do it now.

[RoseMerry]

11:55 AM on 10/16/2011

First, I want to thank all vets and your service to us all. But NO ONE should be one. That we tolerate so much homeless is a crime. It exploded during the Reagan era and never stopped. We are not a civilized people, not this Empire of Amerika.

[rjhuntington]

09:08 AM on 10/16/2011

Make this the highest priority along with jobs and universal health care.

[dpgaff]

09:49 PM on 10/14/2011

In Boston, Ma the Housing Authority has decided to ban smoking in apartments. Send someone who knows where, to do who knows what, and expose them to unbelievable danger, then when they are back here, tell them they can't smoke in their own home. More veterans living under the bridge will be the result.

[snaperific]

12:20 PM on 10/14/2011

the headline makes no sense, but the story was enlightening.

[golfinkatiekat77]

11:00 AM on 10/14/2011

Yes, there are a lot of homeless veterans. Really no need because the Government hires veterans exclusively for jobs with great benefits, above average pay even at the expense of talented, trained individuals! I watch agency after agency eschew fully qualified, experienced people in lieu of hiring a veteran who has absolutely no skills or training for jobs paying up to 100K per year!! So if these "homeless" veterans wanted to, they could work and no longer be homeless. Just push us folks out into the streets that have disabilities that kept us from being able to serve our country even though we were ready, willing, and able!

[CharlieFoxDogs]

09:41 PM on 10/17/2011

Well ya know these Veterans really haven't done anything to deserve priority hiring. Who knows what type of horror these people endured. Yeah, I guess its just a matter of motivation, they are just basically lazy. The wounds that take longest to heal are the ones you can't see. For me that was 15 years of nightmares. I got home from Viet Nam in 1970.