VA chief pitches end to homelessness among vets
Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald and two other White House Cabinet members made a pitch Tuesday in Las Vegas to end homelessness among veterans, a long-sought goal of the Obama administration.
“We’ve made a lot of progress,” McDonald said before addressing the Mayors Challenge at World Market Center.
“Through 2013, veteran homelessness is down 33 percent,” he said, citing the most current figure. “No veterans in this country should spend an evening without a roof over their heads.”
Last year, the Department of Housing and Urban Development estimated there were 57,000 veterans without homes on any given day, accounting for 12 percent of the homeless adult population.
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said there are 692 homeless veterans in Southern Nevada, about a third of an estimated 2,000 five years ago.
McDonald said Southern Nevada’s homeless veterans declined by nearly half since 2014 — 44 percent — based on early estimates. “You’re doing better than the national average, and I think that’s reflected in the cooperation,” he told reporters during a break in the forum.
At cities in other states he said he normally doesn’t see such a collaborative effort to tackle the problem.
“There are multiple mayors from multiple jurisdictions where boundaries don’t get in the way. You have the not-for-profits, the for-profits, you have veterans service organizations represented there. … The way that people are working collaboratively in this region is really a big deal. That’s why we’re here.”
McDonald attributed Southern Nevada’s success in reducing the number of homeless veterans to the mayors and civic leaders persuading landlords to accept the monetary amount for rent vouchers that the VA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development provide.
Goodman, with mayors from other Las Vegas Valley cities and Mesquite, signed a pledge to end veteran homelessness this year in Southern Nevada. McDonald and his colleagues added their signatures.
McDonald joined Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro and Labor Secretary Thomas Perez. U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Executive Director Matthew Doherty also traveled with the trio to Las Vegas after appearing with them at rallies to end veteran homelessness Monday in Houston and Tucson, Ariz.
Doherty said “lasting systems” need to be in place to keep veterans off the streets. He said government leaders need to “change the conversation from addressing homelessness to ending homelessness” among veterans.
Opening Doors, the federal plan to prevent and end homelessness among veterans, was launched in 2010. Since then, the number of vets on the streets nationwide has been slashed by one-third.
Perez said a key to preventing homelessness among veterans is to encourage them to take advantage of their higher education benefits and impress upon employers to give hiring preferences to veterans.
“We have 5 million jobs open in America including 500,000 in the IT field, less than half which require a college degree. We need to connect people with those skills,” he said.
Perez said cutbacks in government programs that support jobs and incentives for veterans stands in the way of reducing homelessness among their ranks.
“Sequestration is a straight jacket that is choking our ability to help veterans,” he said.
Projects such as Veterans Village, US Vets and efforts by Jewish war veterans and veterans service organizations that provide temporary lodging and job opportunities have put a dent in the local veteran homelessness problem.
Since it opened in May 2012, Veterans Village, a converted motel on the Strip, has provided more than 68,000 resident bed nights and created or referred some 690 full-time jobs for vets. The average length of stay for a veteran is about five months. They pay rent from money they earn at jobs, in addition to funds from pensions and retirement, according to founder Arnold Stalk.
Veterans Village has flourished with help of volunteers and corporate partners including The Home Depot Foundation, Station Casinos and Whole Food Markets.
Contact Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308. Find him on Twitter: @KeithRogers2
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