More than 230 permanent housing placements provided to homeless Veterans
Published March 2, 2023; 7:32 p.m.

Homeless veteran. Image by James H. Quillen VA Medical Center

MOUNTAIN HOME, TN -- As part of VA’s nationwide goal to house 38,000 homeless Veterans in 2022 , James H. Quillen VA Medical Center (JHQVAMC) has provided 232 permanent housing placements to homeless Veterans.

Permanent housing placements provided by VA staff and community partners included apartments or houses that Veterans could rent or own, often with a subsidy to help make the housing affordable. VA staff also helped some Veterans end their homelessness by reuniting them with family and friends.

These placements, along with placements provided by other VA health care systems across the U.S., led to VA housing 40,401 Veterans nationwide, meeting and exceeding its national goal by more than 6.3%.

“This goal was achieved through the hard work and dedication of our James H. Quillen VA Medical Center homeless program’s staff, our grantees and contractors and our valued community partners,” said JHQVAMC Medical Center Director Dean B. Borsos. “The progress we’re seeing with Veteran homelessness in our region shows that we have the right solutions to end homelessness for all Veterans we care for.”

At 2022 year-end, JHQVAMC exceeded their goal of providing permanent housing placements. The total number of placements represent 137.06% of the facility’s target, but this came with its challenges.

“Rural areas tend to have limited housing opportunities and resources,” said JHQVAMC social worker Wilma Davenport. “We overcame that by increasing case conferencing and information sharing to identify new landlords or units that were opening in the area.” Nationally, the total number of Veterans who experienced homelessness on a single night in January 2022, was 33,129 — a decrease of 11% from January 2020, the last year a full PIT Count was conducted. In total, the estimated number of Veterans experiencing homelessness in America has declined by 55.3% since 2010.

All of these efforts are built on the evidence-based “Housing First” approach, which prioritizes getting a Veteran into housing, then provides the Veteran with the wraparound support they need to stay housed — including health care, job training, legal and education assistance and more.

If you are a Veteran who is experiencing homelessness or at risk for homelessness, call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-4AID-VET (877-424-3838). Visit the VA Homeless Program's website to learn about housing initiatives and other programs for Veterans exiting homelessness.