News

Charleston VA Provided More Than 432 Permanent Housing Placements to Homeless Veterans

Published

2 years ago

January 24, 2023

Press Release

As part of VA’s nationwide goal to house 38,000 homeless Veterans in 2022, the Ralph H. Johnson VA Health Care System has provided 432 permanent housing placements to homeless Veterans in 2022.

Permanent housing placements provided by VA staff and community partners included apartments or houses that Veterans could rent or own, often with a subsidy to help make the housing affordable. VA staff also helped some Veterans end their homelessness by reuniting with family and friends.

These placements, along with placements provided by other VA health care systems across America, led to VA housing 40,401 Veterans nationwide, meeting and exceeding its national goal by more than 6.3%.

“This goal was achieved through the hard work and dedication of our homeless programs staff, our grantees and contractors and our valued community partners,” said Ralph H. Johnson VA Health Care System Director and CEO, Scott Isaacks. “We lead the Southeast region in Veteran homeless placement and the progress we’re seeing with Veteran homelessness at the Charleston VA is a huge step forward to ending Veteran homelessness.”

Nationally, the total number of Veterans who experienced homelessness on a single night in January 2022, was 33,129 — a decrease of 11% from January 2020, the last year a full count was conducted. In total, the estimated number of Veterans experiencing homelessness in America has declined by 55.3% since 2010.

All of these efforts are built on the evidence-based “Housing First” approach, which prioritizes getting a Veteran into housing, then provides the Veteran with the wraparound support they need to stay housed — including health care, job training, legal and education assistance and more.

If you are a Veteran who is experiencing homelessness or at risk for homelessness, call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-4AID-VET (877-424-3838). Visit the VA Homeless Programs website to learn about housing initiatives and other programs for Veterans exiting homelessness.