According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, 12 percent of the homeless individuals in America are veterans. In April, President Obama called on American cities to work together to End Veteran Homelessness. The city of Long Beach, California, stepped up to this request wholeheartedly.
“I accepted President Obama’s challenge because every veteran deserves a home and support from their community,” Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia told Press-Telegram. “We have stepped up our outreach efforts and coordination with our federal and local partners and am confident that we will reach functional zero in the next couple months.”
Long Beach hopes to reach functional zero when it comes to veteran homelessness by the end of the year. This means all veterans will have access to the resources they need and will be able to find interim housing.
According to the Press-Telegram, the city government partnered with companies like American Family Housing to increase the number of veteran transitional housing units and raise awareness on resource availability.
The Department of Health and Human Services will continue to monitor the number of homeless veterans and adjust the plan as needed until the goal is reached.
http://www.afba.com/media-blog/articles/article/article/news-article-california-program-aims-to-end-veteran-homelessness