All in to end Veteran homelessness

The Secretaries of the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Veterans Affairs (VA), and Labor (DOL), and the Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), will travel to Houston, Tucson and Las Vegas next week to highlight efforts in those communities to reach the goal of ending veteran homelessness by the end of 2015.

HUD Secretary Julián Castro, VA Secretary Bob McDonald, DOL Secretary Thomas Perez and USICH Executive Director Matthew Doherty will join local leaders and formerly homeless veterans in Houston on Monday, June 1, to make a major announcement regarding the city’s progress. The officials will then travel to Tucson on Monday afternoon and Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Between the 2010 rollout of Opening Doors, the first-ever federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness, and the January 2014 point-in-time homeless count, homelessness among veterans nationwide has been slashed by one-third. However, reaching the national goal of ending veteran homelessness in 2015 requires leadership at all levels of government and across private and philanthropic partners. Working together to quickly and strategically deploy available resources, communities can ensure that systems are in place to support any veteran who may experience a housing crisis or need assistance in the future.