Homelessness Law Blog

I have a friend, Al, who served in the U.S. military for several years. This was decades ago, but he can often be seen wearing a VFW jacket or a ball cap commemorating one of the wars in which he served.

I met Al in a homeless shelter. He’d struggled with homelessness on and off for five years, and he could never quite seem to make it through the Veterans Administration bureaucracy to get the benefits he needed to stay housed. Until recently.

Through the perseverance of the shelter’s dedicated staff and volunteers, and through new outreach by the VA, Al and his son now live in a townhome, sheltered from the elements. He no longer has to curl up on the church steps where he’d slept for so many nights.

Nearly 1 in 4 people experiencing homelessness in the United States is a veteran. And these are not all Vietnam or Korean War vets;  veterans returning from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, including female veterans, are finding themselves on the streets.

Veterans are a big focus in the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness’s new federal plan to end homelessness. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki has made a commitment to end veteran homelessness in the next 5 years.

On Tuesday, the Interagency Council held a webcast on veteran homelessness. You can view it here to learn more about what the federal government plans to do about this tragedy.

I have a photo on my desk of Al to remind me why it’s so important to persevere in our efforts to end homelessness. As we observe Veterans Day this year, we at the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty are deeply aware of the injustice of homelessness among those who have served our country in the military. We remain committed, as always, to work toward a United States where homelessness is a thing of the past – for everyone.

-Whitney Gent, Development & Communications Director

Photo credit: Punchup

Today the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness has announced a delay in the release of the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. Though we don’t know for sure when the plan will be officially released, my anticipation will continue to build. Here are 5 reasons the Federal Plan matters to me:

1. Change – Under the Bush Administration, state and local governments were largely responsible for addressing homelessness. But states can’t do it alone. An issue this big requires federal leadership, and federal resources. The plan signals a shift in responsibility, and we hope it will make necessary reforms to the federal systems that allow homelessness to continue.
2. Accountability – In March 2009, President Obama said, “I’m heartbroken that any child in America is homeless…it is not acceptable for children and families to be without a roof over their heads in a country as wealthy as ours.” We couldn’t agree more, but acknowledging the problem is not the same as solving it. It is our hope that the plan contains specific, measurable goals against which we can measure federal progress on homelessness. The Law Center, and other advocates across the country, will work to hold the government accountable to those goals.
3. Human Rights ­ – The Law Center is dedicated to the internationally recognized understanding that adequate housing is a human right. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan has acknowledged his belief in this right, and we’re leading a campaign to see the human right to housing realized in the United States. We don’t know yet whether the Plan will contain human rights language – we hope it will – but either way our belief that adequate housing is a right, not a privilege, pushes us to try to find nationwide solutions to this country’s housing problems.
4. Progress­ – Homelessness has been a major issue in the United States for more than 20 years. Many people, myself included, don’t remember a time when shelters weren’t full and people didn’t have to sleep on sidewalks or park benches. At the Law Center, we talk about ending homelessness because we believe we can do it. If homelessness hasn’t always existed, we don’t have to regard it as an inevitability. It is my hope that the plan will be a good one, that it’ll be effectively implemented, and that we will see tremendous progress toward our goal of making homelessness history.
5. Jacob­ – I know a man whose life led him to the streets. He is a veteran, and disabled. His son, who struggles with mental illness, often accompanies him. They sleep on church steps at night and find meals at the local day shelter during the day. Jacob plays his harmonica to pass the time, and volunteers at the shelter. About six months ago, thanks to the tireless efforts of advocates, Jacob and his son found stable housing for the first time in nearly half a decade. I look forward to the Federal Plan because it’s hard to see my homeless friends and neighbors struggle simply to survive.

I don’t believe the Federal Plan will solve all our problems. I hope it will be a step in the right direction. And I’ll wait, along with my fellow advocates, in anticipation – to see what the government’s going to do about ending homelessness.

-Whitney Gent, Development & Communications Director

One day, about four years ago, I found myself at a housewarming party for a man named Bill, who I barely knew. Bill’s apartment was sparsely furnished, and the only things in his fridge were Pepsi, milk, and some Hershey’s syrup. He didn’t have enough seating for his guests, but he could offer shelter from the season’s first freeze – and his guests had brought pizza!

Just a few days before, Bill had been sleeping in a railroad tunnel, as he had for the last five years.

Bill’s struggles with mental illness lead him to homelessness when both of his caretakers passed away. With no stable source of income and no support network, he was, quite literally, left out in the cold.

For five years, the staff at the homeless day shelter where I was volunteering had been working with Bill to build his trust and find him a home. His open house may be the best party I’ve ever been to.

Bill is one of the reasons I became an advocate for people experiencing homelessness, and one of the reasons I firmly believe in the work of the Law Center. Because I am committed to seeing a day when stories like Bill’s won’t exist, I know we have to make some big changes in America. And at the Law Center, we’re daily working to change the laws in this country to bring us closer and closer to ending homelessness.

One such change is the Federal Plan to End Homelessness, due to Congress in May of this year. Right now, the government wants to know what you think we ought to do to end homelessness in America. I’m adding my two cents because I cannot imagine how hard the ground must feel each night in a railroad tunnel. No matter your reason, I hope you’ll add your ideas too.

-Whitney Gent, Development & Communications Manager

*Don’t wait! The forum closes on Monday!

Last year, the Law Center was instrumental in helping to pass the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act. This major victory for homeless advocates everywhere requires, among other things, that the federal government submit a Federal Plan to End Homelessness to Congress by May 2010.

Now through March 15, you have the ability to offer the government your comments and suggestions on how we should end homelessness in America by going to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness’s new online forum.

We encourage you to add your voice to the dialogue today.