4. Ending Veteran Homelessness
According to HUD’s 2015 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress in November, the nation’s homelessness rates continue to decline based on this year’s “point-in-time” estimates, which are captured by volunteers counting the number of local sheltered and unsheltered homeless people on a single night in late January.
Much progress has been made on housing homeless veterans, which was a key component of the Obama administration’s Opening Doors initiative, the nation’s first comprehensive federal strategy to prevent and end homelessness that was unveiled in 2010. One goal was to prevent and end homelessness among veterans in 2015.
There’s still work to do, but veteran homelessness decreased by 36% between 2010 and January. Less than 48,000 veterans were found to be homeless during the January count, with only 34% on the streets.
And as of November 2015, according to Veterans Affairs, several states and cities—including Virginia; Las Vegas; Mobile, Ala.; New Orleans; Syracuse, N.Y.; and Winston-Salem, N.C.—announced the end of veteran homelessness in their communities.
“Over the past few years, mayors, community leaders, government agencies, and local nonprofits have come together to get our veterans into housing quickly and permanently,” said first lady Michelle Obama in November. “Through the Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness, cities like New Orleans; Houston; Mobile, Ala.; and Lancaster County, Pa., have effectively ended veterans homelessness. And they’ve done this by ensuring that veterans not only have immediate access to housing, but also the support they need to stay in their homes for the long term.”