Program Will House Veterans
Using a $3 million federal grant, Operation 365 aims to find housing for one veteran every day this year.
One veteran, one home, one day every day for the next year.
Thats the goal of a new campaign, dubbed Operation 365, to be unveiled today by local government officials and community activists who say theyre committed to ending homelessness among military veterans, one veteran at a time.
The effort is to be underwritten by a $3 million grant that St. Vincent de Paul recently secured from the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs Supportive Services for Veteran Families program, said Terry McDonald, the nonprofit agencys local executive director.
Officials say their goal is to house 365 of Lane Countys homeless veterans between now and Veterans Day 2015. The long-term goal, they say, is to eliminate veteran homelessness in Lane County.
Its an ambitious goal, but if any place can accomplish this, its a place like Lane County, McDonald said Sunday.
Todays announcement is to be made at 11 a.m. at St. Vincent de Pauls Lamb Building on West 11th Avenue. Dignitaries will include the mayors of Eugene and Springfield; Lane County Board of Commissioners Chairman Pat Farr; and Brig. Gen. Norm Hoffman, who is affiliated with the University of Oregon Reserve Officers Training Corps program.
Officials say the idea of Operation 365 was spurred by first lady Michelle Obama, Veterans Affairs officials and others who in June issued a challenge to local government leaders to join federal agencies efforts to end veteran homelessness by the end of 2015.
Ending veterans homelessness would mean that all veterans have access to housing and support services that will help get them and keep them off the streets, advocates say.
McDonald said applications for the grant funding were competitive, and that federal officials were seeking communities that already had a good working infrastructure of programs aimed at assisting homeless veterans.
Lane County has been very aggressive in trying to house homeless veterans for several years, … and we have a relatively robust (array of) homeless veteran programs, he said.
In combination with the jobs program, housing program and other programs in this area, were coming up with a pretty comprehensive package of services for veterans.
McDonald said the federal grant is for $1 million in each of three years. The grant is earmarked to assist veterans in Lane and Benton counties, he said.
While theres no precise number of homeless veterans in those two counties, the rule of thumb is that roughly 25 percent to 30 percent of all homeless people in this country are military veterans, McDonald said.
City of Eugene spokeswoman Jan Bohman said the citys efforts will now include querying property owners about the possibility of making housing units available to eligible veterans.
The Veterans Affairs grant will provide a big assist, but it cant cover all aspects of providing services to homeless veterans, she noted.
In a statement, Eugene City Manager Jon Ruiz also noted that many Lane County individuals, organizations, ministries and agencies already support veterans by offering physical, emotional, health, social and practical assistance.
Those efforts will continue to be the foundation of the communitys response to homeless veterans, Ruiz said.
However, to end veterans homelessness locally, its crucial to renew our efforts to proactively coordinate and focus resources, Ruiz said.
In other cities across the country including Phoenix, Philadelphia and Salt Lake City multiple groups have come together to successfully help homeless veterans make the transition into permanent supportive housing and to provide realistic opportunities for them to claim and maintain good health, Ruiz said.
As a result, public safety and health resources dollars are saved because the demands on those systems are decreased, Ruiz said.
Other cities success, he said, has demonstrated that the path to ending veterans homelessness is known and doable.
First, set an aggressive but realistic goal. Second, bring public, private, faith-based and nonprofit groups together to develop a plan based on already-known best practices.
And third, implement the plan.
Operation 365 sets the goal, focuses the communitys efforts and will enable us to accomplish the mission, Ruiz said.
Tags: Veterans News
