Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) Military service members’ battles often don’t end when they come home. One task at hand for establishing normal lives is just putting a roof over their heads.
While veteran homelessness has become one of the many problems veterans face once their service is over, D.C. is working to combat the issue.
And believe it or not, it just may be that this year’s Veteran’s Day will be the last with a homeless veteran on the streets of the nation’s capital. At least, that’s what Kristy Greenwalt, head of the D.C. Interagency Council on Homelessness, says.
“A lot of people look at homelessness as an intractable, social issue, and we know it is solvable when the resources are there,” said Greenwalt.
The council’s goal is to put every veteran in D.C. in a home by the end of the year. This would mean they’d have to house 68 veterans a month. Greenwalt says that the council is currently averaging around the mid-70s.
Three years ago, there were 68,000 homeless veterans in the United States. Numbers from last January now show that’s dropped to 49,000, according to retired U.S. Army Lt. Colonel Deb Spanner of Operation Renewed Hope Foundation…
The foundation’s goal is to not only put a roof over veterans’ heads, but to help them stay there.
“It’s all about being self-sufficient and getting these wrap-around services, whether it be medical, dental or employment,” said Spanner.
Spanner credited Congress for putting money towards the effort five years ago.
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