Today is Veterans Day, the annual federal holiday to recognize those who have served in the armed forces. It's also a time when many will be thinking about the 50,000 veterans who are homeless nationwide, according to estimates from the U.S Dept. of Housing and Urban Development.
Last year, Winston-Salem joined two national efforts to end veteran homelessness by 2015. Since then, the number of homeless vets here has dropped by about two thirds.
Mayor Allen Joines says the key has been collaboration among non-profits and veterans organizations.
“We've adopted a housing-first policy, and we came along that with programs by the VA, the United Way and others," he says. "We can assure that any veteran that comes in, their homelessness will be brief, non-recurring, and we can get them into housing”
Andrea Kurtz is the senior director of housing strategies for the United Way of Forsyth. The agency oversees the day-to-day activities of the city's homelessness program. Kurtz says veterans often face challenges that may lead them down a spiral of homelessness.
“Sometimes those issues present immediately when they come back from service," she says. "Sometimes they're able to come back and integrate for a while but then over time the post-traumatic stress or traumatic brain injuries sort of manifest itself and it makes it very difficult.”
She says the veterans program doesn't mean that there will never be homeless vets in the city. Instead, she says there's now a program in place which helps vets get assistance more quickly to help them get off the streets.
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