Philly Vets Home 2015 focuses on:
• Housing 225 veterans experiencing homelessness in the first 100-days of the initiative and maintaining this rate through December 2015;
• Implementing a coordinated entry process for finding, assessing, and referring homeless veterans for permanent housing;
• Using best practices of housing veterans to create a comprehensive approach to ending homelessness among
veterans and ensuring those who need a home most urgently are the top priority over the next 28 months. On a single night in January 2013, approximately 440 veterans in Philadelphia were sleeping on our streets, in emergency shelters, safe havens and transitional housing. Not only is this a local problem, but 62,619 veterans are experiencing homeless in the United States, about one in six of all homeless adults. This is a 7.2 percent decline of veterans experiencing homelessness compared to HUD's 2011 estimate, and a 17.2 percent decline compared to its 2009 estimate. Progress is happening! Be part of the movement: moving veterans experiencing homelessness into housing. Homelessness is always a tragedy but for someone who has bravely served our country and fought for our homes it is a travesty. Veterans have historically been at greater risk of experiencing homelessness than other American adults and are more likely to be on the streets for longer periods of time. The reasons are not all related to military service, but rather are directly related to combat exposure, wartime trauma, and post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which in turn can lead to further social isolation, substance abuse, and psychiatric hospitalization – primary risk factors for homelessness.
