The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced Friday that Little Rock, Arkansas, effectively ended veteran homelessness in its community.
Little Rock’s new announcement brings the VA one step closer to its goal of eradicating veteran homelessness across the U.S. It joins 65 other communities and three states, Connecticut, Delaware and Virginia, that have all effectively ended veteran homelessness.
“No American veteran should be without a safe and stable place to call home,” VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said. “We will continue this important work until we achieve a day when homelessness among veterans is rare and brief in every community across our country.”
The VA has ongoing efforts to end veteran homeless such as its partnership with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development through its Home Together, the federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness.
Earlier in December, HUD released its annual report which showed homelessness overall increased in 2018. But while this increase is discouraging, one of the positive aspects of the report was that veteran homelessness is going down. Veteran homelessness decreased by 5.4% annually in 2018.
Since 2010, veteran homelessness has been cut nearly in half, and 698,620 homeless vets and their families have been permanently housed, rapidly rehoused or prevented from falling into homelessness through HUD’s targeted vouchers and the VA’s homelessness programs.
The Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System has worked with the other members of the local continuum of care to put veterans on the pathway to safe, stable housing. The VA provides wraparound supportive services to the veterans, so they will remain stably housed.
