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Most people have probably seen a homeless person living unsheltered. Out of decency, we may avoid staring. From a compassionate heart, some may even offer something to eat or some money for them to seek shelter for the night. Homelessness, though it may not be at the front of everyone’s minds, has been ingrained into our psyche. We know that homelessness isn’t healthy, for anyone. For many, homelessness is also associated with military Veterans.
Although Veteran homelessness may seem “normal”, we shouldn’t accept the status quo! It is very difficult to count the exact number of homeless Veterans, but according to the 2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress, on a single night in January 2020 there were 37, 252 homeless Veterans across America. The number of homeless Veterans in 2020 went up by 167 Veterans, or .5%, from 2019. This number isn’t exact, but it is useful in determining the effectiveness of existing efforts being taken to end Veteran homelessness.
Massive efforts have been taken thus far to provide affordable housing and related services for our military Veterans. This has ensured that for many Veterans, the time that they experienced homelessness was acute and not chronic. Without those efforts we would not have made it thus far in our fight to end Veteran homelessness. However, with a net balance of over 37,000 Veterans still homeless, the battle to win this war is raging on. It has not been an easy fight to gain the ground that we have overcome.
We must remain vigilant and dedicated to our cause until the mission is complete. Garrison For Veterans pledges a war on Veteran homelessness. Our vision is to see a United States of America where there are no Veterans who have fought to defend America’s freedoms against enemies both foreign and domestic, who have born the burden of war and have returned home, only to die in the streets battling a war against homelessness.
There are many proposals on how to combat Veteran homelessness. The circumstances surrounding Veteran homelessness are far reaching, encompassing many different areas of interest. However, housing is at the center of it all. The way that Veteran homelessness will be eradicated is by increasing the supply of affordable housing for our United States military Veterans. To do this, Garrison For Veterans develops vacant, underutilized land and redevelops underutilized buildings through adaptive-reuse, often times using Historic Tax Credits and underutilized Veteran housing vouchers. We take land, buildings, and anything else that is not currently being used to it’s greatest capacity and maximize it’s use to improve the Veteran condition.
Governments across the United States have underutilized land and buildings that are eating away precious taxpayer dollars by the minute. Housing Authorities have underutilized HUD-VASH housing vouchers because the current housing market will not rent to at-risk Veteran tenants. American citizens own land that may not be good use for anything but may be prime real estate for Veteran housing.
Veteran homelessness is not normal. Through collective public and private efforts, we can reduce the number of homeless Veterans to functional zero and end Veteran homelessness in America. Let’s take care of our brothers and sisters to our left and to our right and ensure no one gets left behind.
Garrison For Veterans is a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Veteran housing developer. We understand Veteran housing and what it takes to end Veteran homelessness for good. We are on the frontline of the battlefield fighting for our Vets! We want to count on you as an ally. Are you willing to join us?
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