On Wednesday night, Jan. 29, hundreds of volunteers walked the streets of Washington, D.C., in search of the city’s homeless. The goal was to find and count as many of them as possible in order to get a snapshot – a “point-in-time” count – of the current homeless population.

The yearly outreach effort, conducted by HUD and VA, takes place in more than 3,000 communities across the nation. It’s just one way VA reaches out to homeless Veterans.  Last year, in 2013, there were an estimated 57,849 homeless Veterans on that single night in January in the United States, an 8 percent decline since 2012 and a 24 percent decline since 2010.

I accompanied some of the volunteers, including HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, across Capitol Hill and other D.C. neighborhoods as they met and got information from the city’s homeless.

VA is committed to ending Veterans’ homelessness in 2015. No one who has served our country should ever go without a safe, stable place to call home.

Explore www.va.gov/homeless to learn about VA’s programs for Veterans and to find out what you, your neighbors, and your community can do to help Veterans who are homeless or at imminent risk of becoming homeless.

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One Comment

  1. linda mac January 31, 2014 at 12:47

    WHAT DIFFERENCE does it make- IF- there is nothing done to help veterans get into a home. THOSE- who should be able to, are not represented by HUD- OR- VA .
    We are left out in the cold- for no reason, ” SORRY YOU DO NOT QUALIFY..YOUR SCORE IS NOT ENOUGH”…..I- DO NOT HAVE CREDIT.I PAY- CASH! I DO NOT HAVE MONEY TO THROW AWAY, it is better if I do pay cash, BUT- I AM PUNISHED FOR THIS.I served my country, but show me WHO is willing to serve me, that I can get into a home.
    HUD repos.. and foreclosures,- should be given as priority to vets, and they should be helped to get into these.
    You all walk the streets to get a count.. and afterwards you go back home to your nice warm…. security.
    WHAT IS THIS….you see homeless vets- suffering, and what exactly- do you all do?
    HELP.. a tiny number.. and call it a day!
    AND- for us Vietnam Vets…no help for the older of us….. no home loans.
    TRAGIC!

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