L.A. leaders vow to end homelessness among veterans this year

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-veteran-homelessness-20150129-story.html



Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald applauds at the VA's West Los Angeles health campus after announcing his efforts to end homelessness among veterans in the county.

L.A. leaders vow to end homelessness among veterans this year
Gale Holland
1.29.2015

Declaring they had turned a corner in the fight against homelessness, city leaders on Thursday vowed that by the end of the year there would be no more veterans living on the streets of Los Angeles.

Speaking in a former downtown flophouse, officials said new federal resources and an end to city-county feuding had transformed their efforts.

"Four years ago, federal authorities told us L.A. is dysfunctional, we’re not going to invest in you," said Elise Buik, president of United Way, whose private-public homelessness collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce is called Home for Good.

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Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert A. McDonald told the gathering that a legal settlement Wednesday -- which will transform the VA’s largely empty 387-acre West Los Angeles property into permanent housing for veterans -- will go a long way toward solving the homeless crisis.