June 25, 2018

Drop in Los Angeles Homeless Vets Could be Good News For All

According to a news release by the U.S Department of Veteran Affairs, Los Angeles County overall saw an 18% decrease in Veteran Homelessness.

Recent numbers are being released after a recent meeting at the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans conference. Hundreds of advocates meet at this conference to discuss better ways to assist homeless Veterans nationwide.

Veteran Homelessness Decreases 18%

Los Angeles County has always seen a very high number of homeless Veterans. This recent decrease is making headlines and giving hope for numbers to decrease across the nation as well in 2018.

Source

“According to federal statistics, the nationwide number of veterans without stable housing dropped from nearly 74,000 in 2010 to just above 40,000 in 2016, with significant decreases each year in between. But in 2017, the figure rose slightly — about 1.5 percent — largely due to housing cost issues in California.”

We won’t hear about 2018 national statistics until later in the year. However, these reports from LA shows that local efforts with organizations have proven to be successful.

“While there is still more work to do, the decrease signals that our strategies are working, bringing us a little bit closer to ending veteran homelessness in Los Angeles,” said Ann Brown, director at VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System.”

LA Works With Local Organizations

The press release states that Los Angeles was working with the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (VAGLAHS). The VAGLAHS was able to place over 2,100 Veterans into permanent housing in 2017 and served over 13,000 unique Veterans during 2017.

It’s no secret that when cities work with great people and organizations we can solve the most difficult problems. The city of Riverside recently become the first large community to completely end Veteran Homelessness.

Want to change a local Veterans life? Considering donating to the VHA. We continue to give out grants to Veterans looking to make their first home purchase!


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