Houston VA in a battle against Veteran homelessness

Houston VA social workers are engaged in a battle against Veteran homelessness, and their work is changing the lives of Veterans. Marine Veteran Raven Lawrence recently sought help from the Michael E. DeBakey VA to get housing and benefits and said she was amazed at how quickly the VA staff jumped into action.

“I got out of the Marines in 2020 and really struggled to find a place to live,” she said. “I called the VA crisis line and they connected me to the local Houston VA staff. Within a matter of weeks, not months, I was sitting in my new home with a great outlook for the future.”

Lawrence, who is pregnant and due to have her first child in May, said that she receives VA disability compensation and is now coming to the Houston VA for coordinated maternity care.

“I have no doubt that because I am a Veteran, I was housed faster and my needs were met right away,” she said. “My VA case managers have been amazing. They make sure I have everything I need.”

“Housing First” strategy

In 2022, Houston VA’s homeless program team housed 806 Veterans and, according to Homeless Veterans Comprehensive Program Manager Robert Birdow, the VA staff are determined to make the phrase “homeless Veteran” a thing of the past.

Houston VA staff at the Houston PIT count: (L to R) Jessica Bowser, Robert Birdow, Amish Desai and Monique Thibodeaux

“We are employing a ‘Housing First’ strategy and are committed to getting Veterans in need into homes as quickly as possible,” he said. “At Houston VA, we mean business when it comes to supporting and changing the lives of our Veterans by getting them into safe stable homes.”

During 2022, VA permanently housed 40,401 homeless Veterans nationwide. This exceeded the department’s goal to house 38,000 Veterans in 2022 by 6.3%. Houston VA exceeded its local housing goal by 125% over this same time period.

Success due to effective working relationships

Birdow credits Houston VA’s success in housing Veterans to effective working relationships between local and government agencies in the Houston area and an extraordinary commitment on the part of everyone involved. “We have streamlined our process of getting Veterans housed. We work alongside the City of Houston, the counties, HUD, Veterans service organizations and anyone who wants to help, until we get it done,” he said.

Monique Thibodeaux-Jackson is Houston VA’s homeless program coordinator. She and a number of other VA staff recently participated in the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Point in Time Count, which helps to get a count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January.

“Helping Veterans is what we are all about at VA,” she said. “You can’t always do that from an office. We don’t just wait for Veterans to come to us for help. We are actively looking for more to serve and we work for and with them with a sense of urgency.”

Services Veterans so richly deserve

Thibodeaux said there are plenty of resources for Veterans in the Houston area. It’s a matter of connecting all the dots and getting Veterans the help they need. While homelessness does disproportionately affect Veterans nationally, VA’s efforts have resulted in the rate dropping 11% in the past three years nationwide and more than 50% since 2010.

According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the number of homeless Texas Veterans dropped from 5,527 in 2007 to 1,948 in 2020, a 65% decrease.

“Our Houston VA homeless program staff feel a special calling to serve Veterans,” Thibodeaux said. “We take each and every Veteran’s case very personally. We go above and beyond to get them housing and make sure they receive all the VA services they have earned and so richly deserve.”