The N&O has a terrific story in today's edition about homeless veterans in Durham and the opening of a 24-unit apartment complex specifically for them, built by a non-profit organization called Volunteers of America. (TROSA is also in the midst of adding 25 beds specifically for veterans, opening in December.)
The article notes that up to one-third of the homeless are veterans, and that within the Triangle the city of Durham hosts a "disproportionate" number of homeless vets, thanks to the presence of the VA here in town.
Few Durhamites I've met would quarrel with that; one of the things that makes the Bull City a great place to live, to me, is the fact that it's a community that's open to helping others and to thinking about the plights of those less fortunate than some of us are.
Still, I had to do a double-take when I read the following in the story (emphasis mine):
Though the VA doesn't fund emergency shelter for vets, it has had a program since the 1990s to help nonprofits build and run transitional housing for veterans. Intended to stop the cycle of homelessness, these can house veterans for up to two years while they are enrolled in recovery and job-training programs.
But progress is slow.... Across the state, there are fewer than 300 beds in VA-supported housing for homeless vets....
Finally, [a homeless veteran in Greenville] called the VA and asked for help.
"They told me that to enter into their homeless program, I'd have to move to Durham and stay in the homeless shelter," he said.
Deborah Lee, the VA's regional homeless coordinator, said sometimes that's the best advice the agency can offer.
To qualify for a bed in supported transitional housing, a vet has to meet the federal definition of "homeless." One way is to be in a shelter.
So let me get this straight. The VA supports non-profit running apartments for vets, which is terrific. But the agency doesn't offer emergency housing.
And, apparently, the answer to this gap in service locally is to tell homeless veterans to move to Durham and use Durham's shelters until the VA can get you into its programs?
I think the folks running Urban Ministries and Durham's other outreach programs for the struggling do a fantastic job. Still, resources are always tight -- and it would seem that the last thing these organizations would need would be for a Federal government agency to say, "We can't help you yet, so come be homeless here."
Why isn't there emergency shelter for veterans offered by the VA in Durham? Or, for that matter, throughout the state so that vets have that option without having to find their way a hundred miles away to another city?
There's an excellent chance this isn't the whole story -- though certainly the comments from Lee in the N&O piece give some significant weight to the matter. Anyone know more about this?
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