Altoona VA houses dozens of local veterans with nationwide effort to end veteran homelessness

ALTOONA, Pa. (WTAJ) — Over 43,000 homeless veterans have been connected to safe, permanent housing in a nationwide push by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to combat veteran homelessness.

Of those veterans, the James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center in Altoona was able to provide 74 with housing and other needed forms of support.

This year, the VA had a nationwide goal of placing 41,000 homeless veterans into housing and that goal was surpassed one month earlier than anticipated.

While efforts like this have contributed to an overall decrease in the numbers of homeless veterans by 4% since early 2020, those involved with the program locally said that eliminating veteran homelessness is about more than just providing them with housing in order to ensure the housing is permanent.

“We have fantastic wraparound services that we can either provide or locate so that if they need drug and alcohol treatment too, or if they need mental health treatment, we’re able to support with those wraparound services while also following that housing first model and making sure they’re safe,” said Caitlin Miller, the Healthcare for Homeless Veterans Program Coordinator at the James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center.

Other services the program offers includes legal services through the Veterans Justice Outreach Program and bridge housing for veterans looking for jobs.

“If we have veterans that are on the street and we’re seeking that permanent employment to them, we can house them for 90 days in our bridge housing program so that we can get them off of the street and somewhere safe while we work with permanent housing,” Miller said.

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Veterans in need of support are asked to reach out to the Altoona VA by calling 814-943-8164, or by calling the homeless hotline for veterans at 877-424-3838 to be connected with a social worker and available resources.

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