By Ben Perdue, LCSW, Executive Director, Village for Vets, US Navy Veteran
Our Veterans deserve a home. Many of us have beloved Veterans in our life, or maybe a Veteran ourselves, and have pride for their service to our nation. That is why it is heartbreaking to see our Veterans living on the streets in the country they committed to defend.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) currently has a national goal to house 41,000 Veterans. Los Angeles County has the highest number of homeless Veterans in the nation. Point-In-Time (PIT) homeless count estimates have been around 4000 LA Veterans in recent years. That has all changed in the past year.
Community collaborations like the new “One Team” model have brought local, state and federal partners together to help reduce Veteran homelessness in LA by an incredible 22.9%. While this decrease is promising, we still have more work to do as a community. Ending Veteran homelessness is not just something the VA can resolve: the entire community must be involved to make sure all our Veterans make it home.
An example of this collaboration is the formation of the Care Treatment and Rehabilitation Services (CTRS) Tiny Homes community on the West LA VA campus. There are now 140 units available for our Veterans due to innovative partnerships with the VA, donors, and nonprofit organizations working together to solve this problem. Our nonprofit organization, Village for Vets, proudly helped initiate these tiny homes, providing supportive services and working directly with the VA to support over 700 Veterans moving into permanent housing on the West LA VA campus by 2026. [EL1]
We can end Veteran homelessness by working together. One homeless Veteran is too many. Community collaborations like “One Team” are a unified effort to get every single Veteran off the streets and we are making a difference. We still have a long way to go. It is going to take all of us to commit to supporting our Veterans like they committed to protecting us and our nation.
About Village for Vets
Village for Vets fills critical gaps in key services for homeless and at-risk Veterans on their journey to stability and independence in greater Los Angeles and beyond. Village for Vets prioritizes programs that make it easier for homeless and at-risk Vets to access a wider range of support. All of our programs move Veterans to the next higher level of care and/or support Veterans in newly acquired housing. Visit https://www.villageforvets.org for more information.
