HELENA — About 30 military veterans live at the Fort Harrison VA Medical Center as part of a rehabilitation program that exceeded its goal of getting homeless veterans housed.
Lisa Vrbas-Hart, a senior Housing and Urban Development and VA Supportive Housing Program case manager, explained, "Having that shelter, that place to be safe in, allows you to get your other needs met. Next comes food security, transportation, jobs, and education. I cannot complete any of those things if I don't have someplace to lay my head at night."
The Montana VA Health Care System aimed to house 230 veterans in the 2024 fiscal year, and they reached 249.
The Montana VA Homeless and Vocational Rehabilitation Program also provides vouchers to veterans, assisting them with paying rent.
Montana VA Homeless and Vocational Rehabilitation Program manager Adrian Spencer said, "It's very expensive and not just in cities like Missoula, Kalispell, or Bozeman, the places people think about. Even in the outlying neighborhoods and towns, those have gotten much more expensive, housing availability is much lower. It's a real big problem."
The program is built with the "Housing First" approach in mind: first providing housing and then connecting veterans with services like health care, job training, and legal and educational assistance.
"Many of these individuals are coming right out of service where their housing was part of their job essentially, and now they're out here going, 'What's next? How do I manage all this?'" Spencer said.
The VA Rocky Mountain Network also recently announced it housed over 2,000 veterans in five states this fiscal year, and more than 97% of housed veterans have not returned to homelessness.
Vbras-Hart said, "We've had several veterans over the time that I've been working with the VA that have been able to purchase their own houses. By getting them attached with VBA for Service Connect, employment, [or] anything that helps them to move forward in life rather than to be stagnant in life."
You can learn more about services the VA provides for homeless Veterans here.
Below is a news release from the VA:
The Montana VA health Care System has exceeded its goal of housing Veterans experiencing homelessness by housing 108 percent of Veterans in need.
The Montana VA’s goal was to house 230 Veterans in fiscal year 2024. However, the Montana VA housed 249.
“Despite a challenging housing market, our homeless program staff, with help from our community and housing authority partners, had the privilege of assisting over 200 Veterans and their families exit homelessness,” said Adrian Spencer, the Montana VA Homeless and Vocational Rehabilitation Program manager. “While we take pride in what we have achieved, we know there is still more to be done and are motivated to continue our work toward ending Veteran homeless in Montana and nationwide.”
Yesterday, the VA Rocky Mountain Network (VISN-19) announced that it has housed more than 2,030 Veterans experiencing homeless in five states this fiscal year. A total of 97.6 percent of these Veterans have not returned to homelessness, and more than 2,010 unsheltered Veterans in this network have been engaged to ensure they have access to the housing and other wraparound services they need.
“We are excited to have exceeded our goal to support Veterans experiencing homelessness,” said Montana VA Executive Director Duane Gill. “We have a tremendous, dedicated team who tackle this challenge every day. This is a testament to their hard work. While this is a great achievement, it underscores the fact that we still have more work to do to support our Montana Veterans. No Veterans should have to experience homelessness.”
Preventing and eliminating Veteran homelessness is a top priority for VA. Between 2022 [news.va.gov] and 2023 [news.va.gov], VA permanently housed nearly 87,000 Veterans. As a result of these efforts, the number of Veterans experiencing homelessness in the U.S. has fallen by over 4 percent since early 2020 and by more than 52 percent since 2010.
“No person who has served this country should ever have to experience homelessness,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “As a result of this year’s efforts, more than 43,000 formerly homeless Veterans now have access to the homes that they deserve. And make no mistake: we won’t rest until every Veteran has a safe, stable, accessible, and affordable home to call their own.”
VA and the entire administration have taken considerable steps this year to combat Veteran homelessness. This week, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness released the federal government’s first ever framework for homelessness prevention [usich.gov] and launched a new series spotlighting local and federal efforts to prevent homelessness. Last month, VA awarded more than $800 million in grants [news.va.gov] via its Supportive Services for Veteran Families [va.gov] and Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem [va.gov] programs, and in July, awarded over $26 million in grants [news.va.gov] to support legal services for Veterans facing homelessness. Additionally, last month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and VA announced policy changes [hud.gov] that will help more Veterans receive housing assistance under the HUD-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program [va.gov].
VA’s efforts to combat Veteran homelessness are grounded in reaching out to homeless Veterans, understanding their unique needs, and addressing them. These efforts are built on the evidence-based “Housing First” approach [va.gov], which prioritizes getting a Veteran into housing, then providing or connecting them with the wraparound services and supports they need to stay housed, including health care, job training, legal and education assistance, and more.
Every day, VA staff and VA’s community partners nationwide help Veterans find permanent housing [va.gov], such as apartments or houses to rent or own, often with subsidies to help make the housing affordable. In some cases, VA staff and partners help Veterans end their homelessness by reuniting them with family and friends.
Visit the VA.gov/homeless [va.gov] to learn about housing initiatives and other programs supporting Veterans experiencing homelessness.
If you are a Veteran who is experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-4AID-VET (877-424-3838) or visit VA.gov/homeless [va.gov].
