Five years ago, President Barack Obama announced an ambitious plan to house all of the nation’s homeless veterans by the end of 2015. The country has made steady progress since then, with more than 26,000 veterans moved off the streets and into stable housing, but considerable work lies ahead. As the president’s deadline approaches, Stars and Stripes will examine efforts by cities across the country to bring the remaining homeless veterans home.
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The VA will open a transitional housing facility for veterans and soon start a planning process for the redevelopment of its 387-acre campus.
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Living with fellow veterans in permanent supportive housing offers a healing camaraderie, an oasis of shared experience and empathy. “For some of them, being here is the first time they’ve felt connected to anyone since they got out of the military.”
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Since 2010, when President Barack Obama launched a five-year national campaign to end homelessness among veterans, the number of former servicemembers living on the streets has dropped from over 76,000 to below 50,000. Here’s a look at efforts in a handful of U.S. cities' progress, based on figures provided by federal, state and local agencies.
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As thousands of troops leave the military each month without jobs or a plan for permanent housing, a new text messaging program will link vets to peers who can connect them to the services and support they need.
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FEATURE REPORT
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FEATURE REPORT
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The Department of Veterans Affairs is one step closer to securing its largest budget in history at more than $250 billion, continuing a trend of the government’s second-largest agency expanding rapidly in size to support a growing and aging veterans population.
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Earnest Brown, 31, a homeless veteran, found his way back to the waiting arms of his mother Saturday and the pair are on their way back to their hometown of Katy, Texas.
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Unemployed military veterans will be among the first Iowa farmers to plant a hemp crop this year and eventually will train others on their techniques if Randy Hasstedt’s plan comes to fruition.
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As veterans and their family members lost jobs or working hours due to fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, local nonprofits such as St. Vincent de Paul CARES and Tampa Crossroads have stepped up to ensure they stay in the safest place possible: their own homes.
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A 62-year-old man who had been missing for a month was found dead in a stairwell on the campus of the Bedford Veterans Hospital wearing the same clothes as when he went unaccounted for, according to the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office.
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Citing the coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout as a source of mental stress, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America called on Secretary Robert Wilkie to publish the VA's past-due plan to prevent veteran suicide.
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Obituary
Dr. Herbert Wilson, a World War II veteran revered for his community involvement and decades as a doctor on the Fort Berthold Reservation, has died.
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Half a century after serving in Vietnam, Bob Shaw — disabled from prostate cancer he says was a side effect of exposure to Agent Orange — volunteers at shelters run by Catholic Community Services in Seattle.
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The 1,815-page legislation, which at $3 trillion would be the largest relief package in U.S. history, was criticized by House Republicans as a “liberal wish list” that had no chance of becoming law.
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Dr. Vito Imbasciani, secretary of California’s Department of Veterans Affairs, has been at war with viruses since he was 5. Growing up near the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York, he contracted polio in 1952 and couldn’t walk for two months.
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It’s uncertain how many homeless veterans have contracted coronavirus or died from it. The VA doesn’t include demographic information in its online data, and the VA’s death toll includes only those who were treated at VA facilities.
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According to colleagues, the deceased staffer was a military veteran who had been homeless before he was hired by the Miami VA in its peer support program that provides mental health and other counseling services to fellow veterans.
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Carmen Forbes said while her father experienced hardship in his life, including war, divorce and cancer, he shouldered his burdens quietly.
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Moments before he was punched and shoved by two men between the rail cars of a Chicago subway train last week, Mamadou Balde had a brief conversation with one of his attackers, Cook County prosecutors said Sunday.
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VA provides $200 million to house homeless veterans in hotels during pandemic
April 10, 2020
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Man stole at least 200 of surgical masks from Nevada veterans hospital, Feds say
April 9, 2020
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Advocates ask VA to immediately distribute funding for homeless veterans
April 6, 2020
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Boston veterans coronavirus 'buddy' program draws strong response
April 4, 2020
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Spending bill includes nearly $20 billion for VA
March 27, 2020
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Senate-approved stimulus bill includes nearly $20 billion for VA
March 26, 2020
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Work on getting homeless veterans into permanent housing has halted, advocates say
March 24, 2020
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Another veteran dies without family, prompting new funeral policy from Massachusetts first responders
March 14, 2020
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Family struggling with questions after VA police shoot and kill Army veteran at medical center in Dallas
March 7, 2020
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Report: VA unlawfully denies health care access for veterans with 'bad paper'
March 5, 2020
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Florida launches initiative to make it easier for veterans to buy homes
February 21, 2020
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Veterans point to value of Stars and Stripes amid proposal to strip funding from news organization
February 14, 2020
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Stand Down event offers respite for 300 homeless veterans in San Diego area
February 7, 2020
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Study: Marijuana is a top treatment for veterans' pain, PTSD — but cost is barrier
February 4, 2020
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Man killed by 70-year-old veteran he took in off the streets, family says
January 27, 2020
