Veterans finding their way home
Homeless numbers decline with help from federal programs, local nonprofits
Lawrence Forbes couldn’t have been happier when he got the keys to his furnished studio apartment near Nellis Air Force Base. The 53-year-old veteran had been homeless for about a year after medical bills from two back surgeries piled up.
With the help of programs at the Salvation Army of Southern Nevada, he was able to move into his own place in April.
It was his third bout of homelessness since serving in the U.S. Army from 1977 to 1980
“It was like this big weight had been lifted off me,” he recalled on Wednesday afternoon. “There’s nothing like your own (place).”
Over the past two years, the population of homeless veterans in Clark County decreased by 35.6 percent, according to the 2013 Southern Nevada Homeless Census
& Survey released earlier this month and conducted by the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition.
Nationwide, there was an 18 percent decrease in the number of homeless veterans during the past two years.
The local decline is in line with an ambitious goal set by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to end veterans’ homelessness by 2015.
But some local officials say that is realistic only if there are no cuts to funding and resources to help combat the problem.
The federal Veteran Affairs Supportive Housing program, also known as HUD VASH, has been vital in meeting the goal of ending homelessness among veterans, said Carolyn Hughes, chief of social work service at the Veterans Affairs Southern Nevada Healthcare System.
The program locally provides rental vouchers and case management for veterans in partnership with the local Veterans Affairs office and the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority.
It began five or six years ago with an effort “to try to find any (homeless) veteran that we can find,” Hughes said.
During the past two years — as of Jan. 23 to 24 when the homeless census count was conducted — a total of 563 homeless veterans had moved into permanent housing through the program.
Also, nearly 1,000 homeless people were placed in permanent housing through programs run by local nonprofit
“They do look back at your success rate,” she said.
After meeting the criteria for the Veteran Affairs Supportive Housing program, veterans are able to live anywhere in the community; but before they move in, the housing authority inspects the unit, Sawyer said.
Veterans Affairs then provides intensive case management.
The case management service is to help connect veterans with other resources they may need, such as medicine, Thompson said. “Most importantly to ensure that they remain stable and remain in their house.”
As men and women transition back into civilian life, the federal government and local organizations can help them avoid homelessness, said Barbara Poppe, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Ending Homelessness.
“We have an obligation for every person who put on a uniform to serve this country,” Poppe said last week during a Veterans Affairs Task Force session at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Las Vegas.
Over the past two years, veteran homelessness decreased by 18 percent nationwide, Poppe said, crediting the increased federal focus on the issue. “An 18 percent reduction in the midst of a great recession.”
Local homeless veterans still account for 11.8 percent of Clark County’s total homeless population of 7,355, according to this year’s homeless census count.
On any given night, an estimated 866 homeless veterans are in the county. That is a drop from about 1,350 homeless veterans in 2011, and 2,262 in 2009, previous census counts show.
But going from 866 to zero in the next two years might not be easy.
“I think it is a very strong challenge, but I think it’s doable in this community,” Hughes said.
Sawyer said meeting that goal will depend on future funding.
“I think it’s realistic as along as we receive the funding and the resources,” she said.