Supporting Veterans and Ending Veteran Homelessness White Paper
There are roughly 18 million Americans—about 7% of the adult population—who are veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces and New York State was home to 790,000 veterans in 2018. Regrettably, too many veterans face significant challenges once they are transitioned back to civilian life, too many fall through the cracks, and still more are unaware of the range of benefits and supports, from financial counseling to career services, that are available to them. While a new Ipsos 3 poll showed that 80% of veterans rate their healthcare as good or very good, approximately 50% of veterans say they’re not sure how to rate the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) life insurance, and 33% are unsure about housing assistance.
Strikingly, one of the more significant challenges veterans face is precarious housing and homelessness; the rate of homelessness is higher among veterans than the general public—approximately 13% of homeless adults are veterans with close to 1.5 million veterans considered at-risk of homelessness. While the overall number of homeless veterans has significantly decreased (by almost 50%) since 2009, thanks to the many housing support programs for veterans that exist, efforts need to continue to ensure that no veteran is unaware of the supports that exists or face homelessness.
S:US strives to end homelessness among veterans in our community and to develop systems which ensure that any new instances of homelessness are rare, brief, and non-recurring. In order to achieve these goals, we
- Continue to cultivate a growing network of over 400 partner organizations, expanding our ability to engage veterans of every service era and identity;
- Leverage a dynamic continuum of care which supports veterans’ unique service needs;
- Target public and innovative private resources to enhance successful service outcomes for the most marginalized veterans, and to help them secure safe, sustainable permanent housing, access meaningful employment that pays a true living wage/creates opportunities for career growth; and
- Deliver evidence-based, best-in-class services that meet their self-directed service needs, preferences, and desired outcomes.
CLICK HERE TO READ OUR WHITE PAPER ON SUPPORTING VETERANS AND ENDING VETERAN HOMELESSNESS.