Giving Homeless Vets a Fighting Chance

by Ted Iobst · 2010-09-24 07:40:00 UTC
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According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, over 100,000 veterans are homeless on a given night. That's almost one-fifth of the homeless population, and doesn't come close to representing the 1.5 million other veterans who are at risk of homelessness. But organizations in New Jersey and Indiana have recently stepped up to do something about it.

Community Quest, a low-income housing developer, will break ground on affordable apartments in Ocean County, New Jersey, as part of a major initiative to provide housing to some of the 6,500 homeless veterans throughout the state (there are currently 200 beds for them statewide). The 24-apartment facility, Tucker's Walk, is the first military-and-veterans-only facility to be built in New Jersey and is scheduled to begin providing housing within a year.

Elsewhere, ECHO Housing Corporation proposes building 27 apartments for homeless veterans with disabilities in Evansville, Indiana (by current counts, the city has over 100 homeless veterans). The project, named Lucas Place II, is a prime example of the immense amount of coordination required to get even a modest-sized housing development off the ground in the current economy. City and state governments, for-profit companies and community donors are among those contributing substantial sums to help those who have defended our homeland and are now without a home. Homeless vets, one of the largest subgroups of the homeless, are also one of the most politically correct to help.

Given the enormous population of homeless veterans and the relatively slow pace and scale of veteran-specific housing development, Tucker's Walk and Lucas Place II are a drop in the bucket at best. Nonetheless, as a result of action taken by development organizations a well as local and state governments (thank goodness, not the Senate), some homeless veterans in New Jersey and Indiana now have a fighting chance.

Photo credit: PelicanPete

Ted Iobst blogs about hunger, homelessness and poverty in Washington, D.C. at HelpTheDistrict.org and volunteers at Miriam's Kitchen.
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