VA Housed More Than 40,000 Homeless Veterans in 2022

During 2022, the Dept. of Veterans Affairs permanently housed 40,401 homeless veterans, providing them with the safe and stable homes that they deserve. This exceeded the department’s goal to house 38,000 veterans in 2022 by 6.3%. Nationally, the total number of veterans experiencing homelessness has decreased by 11% since January 2020. In total, the estimated number of veterans experiencing homelessness in America has declined by 55.3% since 2010.

This success is a result of VA efforts to reach out to every veteran experiencing homelessness, understand their unique needs, and address them. These efforts are grounded in the evidenced-based “housing first” approach, which prioritizes getting a veteran into housing then provides the veteran with the wraparound support they need to stay housed – including health care, job training, legal and education assistance and more.

“There are thousands of formerly homeless veterans who are going to sleep tonight in good, safe, stable homes – and there’s nothing more important than that,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough via a press release. “This is great progress, but it’s just the beginning: we at VA will not rest until the phrase ‘homeless veteran’ is a thing of the past.”

Ending veteran homelessness is a top priority of VA and the Biden-Harris Administration. Earlier this year, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness released “All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness,” which set forth President Biden’s ambitious goal to reduce all homelessness by 25% by 2025. As a part of that effort, the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, which closely partners with VA in the fight to end homelessness, announced recently that, through HUD and USICH’s House America initiative, communities have housed over 100,000 households since September 2021. 

Throughout 2022, VA staff helped veterans find permanent housing such as apartments or houses that veterans could rent or own, often with a subsidy to help make the housing affordable. VA staff also helped some veterans end their homelessness by reuniting them with family and friends. VA also continues to focus on combating veteran homelessness in the Greater Los Angeles area. During 2022, VA provided 1,301 permanent housing placements to formerly homeless veterans in LA, the most of any city in America.

If you are a veteran or know a veteran who is experiencing homelessness or at risk for homelessness, call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-4AID-VET (877-424-3838). Visit the VA Homeless Program website to learn about housing initiatives and other programs for veterans exiting homelessness.

Provided by Blake Hyfield, post service officer for the local VFW and American Legion posts. He can be reached at bhpegleg@yahoo.com.

  Blake HYFIELD