Nationwide, numbers dropped by 12 percent for the country’s homeless veterans between 2011 and 2010 according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. On Tuesday Colorado specific numbers were not available.
The decline is in part thanks to increased efforts by VA officials in Colorado and other states to get the word out about a voucher program that subsidizes housing costs for the homeless. Jordan Schupbach with the VA’s Eastern Colorado Health Care System says his agency has also increased collaboration among nonprofits serving the homeless.
“So we’ve really tried to push out partnerships with community agencies to make the whole effort more continuous,” he says.
For example, last year Volunteers of America in Denver launched a program focusing on helping female homeless veterans--a growing population.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki said today that $100 million in grants will be made available over the coming year to help prevent veterans from becoming homeless or to quickly return them to stable housing.
