So far, 91 Mayors and 5 Governors Have Accepted Michelle Obama, H.U.D. and V.A.’s Challenge to End Vet Homelessness by 2015

homeless

Photo by Susan Madden Lankford

As of this writing, June 25, 2014, the Mayors or top local officals of 91 American cities have accepted the recent challenge by First Lady Michelle Obama, on behalf of her, the Veterans’ Administration and Housing and Urban Development to end Veterans’ homelessness by 2015. Also agreeing to work to end homelessness by former members of the US Armed forces are the governors of Colorado, Connecticut, Minnesota, Virginia and Puerto Rico.

These socially concerned mayors include those of 38 of the 50 most populous US municipalities. Unfortunately, 22 of the other biggest 50 cities have not yet committed to getting their vets off the streets and into housing. The laggards are: Los Angeles, San Jose, Austin, San Francisco, Charlotte, Ft. Worth, El Paso, Washington DC, Oklahoma City, Louisville, Portland, Albuquerque, Long Beach, Mesa, Virginia Beach, Colorado Springs, Omaha, Raleigh, Tulsa, Cleveland, Wichita and Arlington, TX. If you live in one of these burgs, feel free to urge your mayor to get on board.

The Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness is a fine way to solidify partnerships and secure commitments to end Veteran homelessness from mayors across the country.

Ending homelessness among Veterans cannot be accomplished by federal partners alone but will require the partnership and commitment of each community’s homeless response and housing system, including Veteran Service Organizations, community-based providers, faith-based organizations, public housing agencies, affordable housing operators and many more. Corporate and philanthropic partners can play an important role in rounding out the array of housing, services and jobs available to Veterans experiencing homelessness.

HUD offers mayors a “webinar” (online seminar) on housing placement and retention strategies for programs that serve Veterans who experience homelessness, as well as a webinar that shares advice from successful efforts on how to develop a comprehensive approach that effectively brings the resources available to Veterans in need, to improve housing and life outcomes.

Key strategies communities should implement to achieve the goals of ending homelessness among all Veterans include: Housing First, targeting of permanent supportive housing, providing rapid re-housing opportunities and using other community and mainstream resources.

A key strategy for ending chronic homelessness among Veterans is ensuring that your community is using Housing First approaches and effectively targeting permanent supportive housing opportunities, including those provided through the HUD–VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program, to chronically homeless and vulnerable Veterans.

Housing First is a proven method of ending all types of homelessness and is the most effective approach to ending chronic homelessness. Housing First offers individuals and families experiencing homelessness immediate access to permanent affordable or supportive housing. With no clinical prerequisites like completion of a course of treatment or evidence of sobriety and with a low-threshold for entry, Housing First yields higher housing retention rates, lower returns to homelessness and significant reductions in the use of crisis service and institutions than other approches.

Due to its high degree of success, Housing First is identified as a core strategy for ending homelessness in Opening Doors: the Federal Strategic Plan to End Homelessness and has become widely adopted by national and community-based organizations as a best practice for solving homelessness.

Phoenix has already made progress toward ending vet homelessness. Its Project H3 Vets Initiative was launched as a collaborative strategy to quickly house 150 of the most vulnerable veterans who were experiencing chronic homeless in Phoenix, using assistance provided through the HUD-VASH program and other resources. The Project H3 Vets Initiative is an extension of the Phoenix 100,000 Homes Campaign, Project H3: Home, Health, Hope. This public-private collaboration involved multiple government agencies and community partners. Based on the success of this initiative, an additional 100 HUD-VASH vouchers have been allocated.

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