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VA homeless initiative has support of Legion

The nation’s largest veterans group vows to help the Veterans Affairs Department achieve an ambitious goal of eliminating homelessness among veterans within five years.

“Anyone who has served our country in uniform should have a roof over their heads,” said Clarence Hill, national commander of the American Legion, in reaction to VA’s announcement Tuesday of a comprehensive plan to work on issues involving homeless veterans.

“To have even one veteran out there living in the streets is a disgrace,” Hill said.

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki announced at a summit on homelessness that he and President Barack Obama “are personally committed to ending homelessness among veterans within the next five years.”

Shinseki made it clear that he understood what he was saying. “I learned long ago that there are never any absolutes in life, and a goal of zero homeless veterans sure sounds like an absolute,” the former Army chief of staff said. “But unless we set ambitious targets for ourselves, we would not be giving this our very best efforts.”

By VA’s estimate, about 131,000 veterans are homeless today, down from about 195,000 six years ago. Shinseki said the new effort to end homelessness stems from concern that tough economic conditions in the U.S. could reverse those gains, leading to a 10 percent to 15 percent increase in the number of homeless veterans in the next five years if nothing is done.

Some of the means Shinseki said will be used to reduce homelessness are programs that the Legion strongly supports.

For example, the Legion is backing the idea of getting the Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide more affordable housing for veterans. The Legion’s executive council supports giving 20,000 vouchers a year and making that a permanent, rather than temporary, program.

Using GI Bill education benefits as a way to tackle homelessness is another Shinseki initiative, and the Legion — credited with helping to create the original post-World War II GI Bill — supports that idea as well.

VA intends to spend about $3.2 billion next year to reduce and prevent homelessness, Shinseki said, with $2.7 billion going to medical services and $500 million to specific programs for the homeless. Getting support from the Legion and other major veterans groups for that spending will be key to winning congressional approval.

Joe Sharpe, who heads the Legion’s economics division, said ending homelessness for veterans in five years “is a tremendous challenge, but one that must be taken.”

“We’ve got to put enough funding and staffing behind this effort,” Sharpe said. “We’ve got to have the political will. If that happens, eliminating the problem in five years is a reasonable goal.”

The Legion has a task force on homelessness that has been working for years with other veterans groups and government and community groups, and will continue those programs, Sharpe said.

The Legion also hosts programs to provide health care and other services to homeless veterans, and holds career fairs and business development opportunities that help veterans and their families.

“Veterans are not immune from the recession,” Sharpe said. “Sometimes, they are just a paycheck away from losing their homes.”