The “City of Brotherly Love” is showing a lot of love for homeless veterans.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania city leaders announced yesterday (December 17) that every vet in the city who wants a permanent home, now has one.
Since 2013, the city has found permanent housing for 1,390 homeless veterans living on Philly’s streets.
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“You have actually done it. You have effectively ended veteran homelessness,” U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro told city leaders. “The thing is that we can’t stop our work until every single veteran has a place to call home in the United States.”
The Philadelphia effort was led by Philly Vets Home, a coalition of local government agencies, nonprofit groups and the local Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital in the city.
It developed a program that moved vets into emergency housing within just a few days of becoming or being identified as homeless. Veterans were then moved into transitional housing within 47 days and into a permanent home within 105.
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Since 2013, veteran homelessness has been cut by about a third nationwide, reports Philadelphia Daily News, as states, counties, and cities have stepped up efforts to find every vet a permanent home.
New Orleans, Louisiana became the first city to eliminate veteran homelessness earlier this year. Virginia became the first state to reach that goal on Veterans Day, November 11.
(Photos: miketnorton, CC; bengrey, CC)
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