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Rockford, Ill., is one of the first cities to effectively end homelessness among veterans
Rockford, Ill., is one of the first cities to effectively end homelessness among veterans
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A City Solves Veteran Homelessness
Rockford, Ill., got vets off the streets as part of a national challenge; now the Rust Belt city is trying to end all homelessness by 2020
By Erica Snow
Dec. 4, 2018 5:30 a.m. ET
ROCKFORD, Ill.—James Asel had just started a new job and a new life here when a family fight led to a relative tossing all his belongings out in the snow. Several weeks before the holidays last year, he was homeless, along with his fiancée and three children under age 6. ... After a few weeks in a shelter, Mr. Asel tapped into a multiagency program for veterans like him in this Rust Belt city. It landed the family in a new apartment about a month later. ... “I was in hell, with the amount of stress and the amount of stuff I was going through daily,” said Mr. Asel, a 31-year-old blacksmith. “They blessed us at Christmas.”
Rockford, about 90 miles northwest of Chicago, is one of the first cities to effectively end homelessness among veterans, according to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Officials consider its programs a model for other cities. Its goal is now to eliminate all homelessness by 2020.
Rockford and dozens of other cities accepted a challenge posed by then-First Lady Michelle Obama in June 2014 to end veteran homelessness, creating a network for city officials to brainstorm and share ideas. Since then, some 63 communities and three states have followed Rockford’s lead to be certified as having solved the problem, including bigger cities like Miami, which was certified last summer. Other major metros, including Chicago, Los Angeles and New York have also signed on to the challenge.
“We’ve actually seen it’s possible anywhere,” said Matthew Doherty, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, though high rents and finding landlords willing to rent to the homeless can be a challenge in bigger cities. ... Nationwide, there are about 15,000 unsheltered, homeless veterans, according to the most recent data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. .... Since 2015 when it was certified for ending veteran homelessness, nearly 200 veterans have received housing in the Rockford area, said Angie Walker, Rockford’s homeless program coordinator. Three veterans were still in need of housing as of Nov. 28. ... To keep the city’s certification, there can’t be more than eight identified homeless veterans at any given time. The city keeps a centralized list with names and information for every known homeless person.
....
Rockford, Ill., got vets off the streets as part of a national challenge; now the Rust Belt city is trying to end all homelessness by 2020
By Erica Snow
Dec. 4, 2018 5:30 a.m. ET
ROCKFORD, Ill.—James Asel had just started a new job and a new life here when a family fight led to a relative tossing all his belongings out in the snow. Several weeks before the holidays last year, he was homeless, along with his fiancée and three children under age 6. ... After a few weeks in a shelter, Mr. Asel tapped into a multiagency program for veterans like him in this Rust Belt city. It landed the family in a new apartment about a month later. ... “I was in hell, with the amount of stress and the amount of stuff I was going through daily,” said Mr. Asel, a 31-year-old blacksmith. “They blessed us at Christmas.”
Rockford, about 90 miles northwest of Chicago, is one of the first cities to effectively end homelessness among veterans, according to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Officials consider its programs a model for other cities. Its goal is now to eliminate all homelessness by 2020.
Rockford and dozens of other cities accepted a challenge posed by then-First Lady Michelle Obama in June 2014 to end veteran homelessness, creating a network for city officials to brainstorm and share ideas. Since then, some 63 communities and three states have followed Rockford’s lead to be certified as having solved the problem, including bigger cities like Miami, which was certified last summer. Other major metros, including Chicago, Los Angeles and New York have also signed on to the challenge.
“We’ve actually seen it’s possible anywhere,” said Matthew Doherty, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, though high rents and finding landlords willing to rent to the homeless can be a challenge in bigger cities. ... Nationwide, there are about 15,000 unsheltered, homeless veterans, according to the most recent data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. .... Since 2015 when it was certified for ending veteran homelessness, nearly 200 veterans have received housing in the Rockford area, said Angie Walker, Rockford’s homeless program coordinator. Three veterans were still in need of housing as of Nov. 28. ... To keep the city’s certification, there can’t be more than eight identified homeless veterans at any given time. The city keeps a centralized list with names and information for every known homeless person.
....