Why ending Veteran homelessness requires more than individual services
Homelessness is one of our nation’s most complex challenges. Factors such as limited affordable housing, stagnant wages, health challenges and gaps in community resources have developed over decades, and no single program or organization can address these issues alone.
That is why helping Veterans access housing and support services during a difficult time is so critical. Immediate shelter, healthcare, employment services and other resources provide essential support to Veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness. But while these resources are critical, providing services alone is not enough to end Veteran homelessness.
From services to shared outcomes
Historically, federal resources to address homelessness were largely distributed through grants that allowed communities across the country to build programs tailored to local needs. These efforts improved access to immediate support but also led organizations to focus heavily on individual program requirements and performance measures—especially since that was what was required to maintain their funding.
While program-level results remain important, ending Veteran homelessness requires communities to look beyond the success of individual programs and focus on collective progress toward a common goal.
According to the latest Point-in-Time (PIT) Count data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Veteran homelessness has decreased 56.1% since 2010. Yet, an estimated 32,495 Veterans experienced homelessness on a single night in January 2025. These numbers highlight what has been achieved so far and how much work remains.
Ending Veteran homelessness requires more than providing much-needed services. Rather, it requires communities to align around a common goal and ensure that Veterans are connected to the interventions most likely to help them achieve stability and independence. The challenge is not simply delivering services to “Veterans,” but ensuring each and every homeless Veteran is known, by-name, and connected to the resources most likely to help them succeed.
That is why VA and its partners have increasingly shifted toward a coordinated approach that keeps the goal of ending Veteran homelessness at the center of their work.
Learn about the seven essential elements to end Veteran homelessness.
One Team, one common goal
Veterans shouldn’t have to be experts at navigating VA and other systems to get help. VA’s One Team Operational Framework prioritizes coordinating services across programs and partners to make it easier for Veterans experiencing homelessness to access the right support at the right time.
VA fosters coordinated action across the agency and among VA-funded organizations, community partners and other stakeholders through four key elements:
- Building strong leadership teams to organize each intervention, so programs work efficiently both independently and together in support of homeless Veterans.
- Bringing together key decision-makers through regular coordination meetings to identify challenges, set improvement goals, align resources and develop strategies to help Veterans access housing more quickly.
- Using real-time data, including by-name lists, to identify Veterans experiencing homelessness and connect them with the housing and support services that best meet their individual needs.
- Removing barriers that delay housing by bringing partners together to solve challenges collaboratively.
Measuring what matters
The services provided every day across communities remain essential. Every meal served, every healthcare appointment attended, every employment opportunity secured and every housing placement can help a Veteran move closer to stability. But those efforts have the greatest impact when they serve the larger goal of ending Veteran homelessness.
Achieving this goal requires communities to align around shared outcomes rather than isolated organizational success metrics. Real success should not be measured by the volume of services delivered, but by whether fewer Veterans experience homelessness at any given time and whether those Veterans are connected to the resources they need most.
That is the purpose of One Team: uniting partners around a shared goal, a common understanding of success, and a collective commitment to ending Veteran homelessness once and for all.
Learn about VA programs
- If you are a Veteran who is homeless or at risk of homelessness, or need to connect with a Veterans justice outreach specialist, call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-424-3838.
- Learn more about how VA helps aging homeless Veterans.
- Visit the VA Homeless Programs website to learn about housing initiatives and other programs for Veterans exiting homelessness.
- Get involved in housing homeless Veterans.
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You guys are the best and have helped so many of us old soldiers. I understand that you are always looking for better ways and you always update the ways working now. I want you to know that we appreciate your efforts so much and so many of us benefit from your help and kindness. Thanks so much
I have been homeless for years living out of my truck. I have gotten so tired and depressed that I have been lost as to what I should do. While your article was well written and sincere it was not accurate. I have had exceptional experiences with every VA dept or employee and have never had a complaint. That is until I was coerced into going into the hudvash program. Since agreeing to the program my opinion of the VA has gone to crap. I was lied to several times by social worker. She made several inappropriate comments about me. When I tried to talk to her about it she refused android We are not going to talk about it. I contacted her and asked for her supervisors name and wouldn’t give it to me. I have been totally incorrect information on several occassions actually every time i asked her answers were wrong. She accused me of drinking which is not true. She told me I had brain damage and then she asked me if I liked pork. I was and still am pissed about her th e y finally gave me a new worker. Which he basically has been of no assistance trying to meet the deadline. I was told Sept 1st I am out. Then when we were not doing anything to go forward I said we didn’t have much time and that it was not Sept 1st but had no idea when it was. He has not gotten back to me going on almost a week and I have 5 days left. One issue I have is it costs me 55.00 dollars in gas to come meet with them every week for no reason. That a a total of 55.00 x 24 weeks which 1320.00 in gas alone. Plus 4 hours of my day for a 15 min meeting. I can’t afford that. Their response was ride and greyhound. WTH. I have tried patient advocate and never got a return phone call. What they don’t tell you is you will live in section 8 housing which a most commonly the worst possible housing. They told me it’s nor about finding me a place that I want to live there. They don’t care about me being happy about where I live They just want to sho that their plan is working. No matter where I have to live. I hate to be negative because I love the VA but this program is not a good program it’s just a numbers game only.
SSVF in your local area
The HUD- Vash , SSFV and the VSO has all been helping me to no be homeless from an abusive expartner
My name is John Wayne Gatlin served in the Marine corps August 1987 to August 1991. Where can I find information about helping The VA tackle this homeless vet problem we have. I’m currently on disability and have free time. I would like to spend it wisely. Thank you
Call Va administration then ask to speak the Socail worker can guide you
I am a homeless Veteran. I called the number. Someone from the VA called me and gave me a list of shelters that are not safe then said Good Luck! This was approximately a month or so ago, and I’m still homeless.
Can you go like a women shelter then contact VA Socail worker for hud vash rental vouchers
SSVF in your local area
Hello, I am a retired social worker with the VA HUD-VASH Program. Please contact the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans for housing assistance.
Hello, I am a veteran and retired social worker with the VA HUD-VASH Program. Please contact the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans for housing assistance.
Ending Veteran homelessness is a nice idea and maybe some day, it can actually happen. If it helps a veteran find a home, its a good thing. But that good can easily be undone and I’ve not only seen it happen, it happened to me. All the supportive services were helpful and I was thriving. Life is hard and harder when you’re homeless. I survived trauma durring my years of service, survived domestic violence, overcame multiple addictions I never thought I ever could and was well on my way to financial stability. Then one day, employees from the housing authority used an emergency already cleared by responding fire units to enter my unit without prior notice and against HUDs own guidelines directing PHAs to consider circumstances and avoid evitions whenever possible, evicted me for having cannabis in my living room. On behalf of several residents who use (state-legal) cannabis, I requested and was granted an extra smoking area specifically for smoking pot. I was under the impression that users not in violation of the no-smoking policy would not be evicted because they follow the housing first model and it was PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING. For 3 1/2 years, I did the work, I improved my situation, started loving life again finally! I went to a local dispensary one evening and the budtender who was working there was the temporary property manager of my apartments. She was training our new manager while waiting for her own property to open and moonlighting selling weed to residents she has the authority to evict for using or possessing illegal drugs. The law calls that a conflict of interest and makes the Housing Authority vulnerable to legal ramifications. I understand the scheduling system for controlled substances and the grants that fund all HUD programs do not allow even state legalized cannabis use due to federal resitictions, however, housing homeless veterans known to suffer from substance use disorder and mental and physical health issues is where the road to ending veteran homelessness starts. Supportive services get and keep the ball rolling until the veteran relearn the life skills forgotten and makes the commitment to self needed for success. How does that work if the people working for the veteran don’t acknowledge the progress and evict the veteran when a timeline that shouldn’t exist, isn’t met? What does the veteran do when they are housed and successfully working towards sobriety, just not fast enough and are returned to homelessness by the very authority who saved them at first? Ending veteran homelessness means housing and helping veterans sustain, not returning them to the cold hard life on the streets when they relapse or don’t get over it quick. I should have stayed housed. That’s how you ended it. Stop being a part of the problem or you’ll never have a solution! Get them housed and KEEP them housed! And remember…Compassion is the key.
Also, training social workers to assist in housing searches and extension requests and porting to other areas. I for one had a difficult time remembering everything from whom to call for help with moving costs, application fees, emotional support animals rights, deposits, etc to what paperwork to fill out and when to turn it in. Being homeless isn’t easy or cheap. Case managers have so many cases and it seems like the only thing important to them is making sure their bosses see them as the solution. When they solve nothing, they making sure it is known that the veteran is the problem. I was sober for over two years from all but one of my addictions (cannabis) and because of this failed system, I can no longer say that. My accomplishments are null and void and I’m starting recovery over again at the age of 53. I think I would still be sober if not for the actions of an employee in no position to judge or have the authority to end someone’s life basically
The VA needs a program for those about to lose power or be kicked out. Your only option currently is to uproot them, often moving them into worse conditions for less money. They also need to do away with VA hospitals and let everyone choose their providers. Complete nonsense to keep shitty hospitals with even shittier care running for more money than a regular hospital.
I had an eviction with my abusive exbf I called the veterans administration and requested to speak with an appoint you with a homeless Socail worker the Va Socail worker two of them will contact you, the hud-vash and the ssvf and they will help