Help for Homeless Veterans

In their second annual Veteran’s Annual Homelessness Assessment Report, the departments of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced modest progress in the effort to house homeless veterans. A count of people living in shelters and on the street in 400 communities on a single January night in 2011 found 12 percent fewer veterans than at the same time the previous year—67,495, compared with 76,329 in 2010. The percentage of veterans living in shelters and transitional housing was also up by two percent. The VA and HUD are making a major effort to permanently house veterans and also stabilize the lives of others in danger of losing their homes. The VA announced that it will make $100 million in grants available through FY 12 to community agencies to put veterans in permanent supportive housing. The complete 2011 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report will be available in 2012.