Virginia Becomes 1st State to "End" Veteran Homelessness

The state hasn't declared victory in the war against veteran homelessness, but officials say they have won a key battle.

Virginia has, as of now, the resources to house any homeless veteran who seeks help. They're calling it a "functional end" to homelessness among the state's 800,000 veterans.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe was scheduled to announce the achievement Wednesday morning at a Veterans Day celebration at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond.

The state can never eliminate homelessness, officials say. A lost job or family dispute can put someone on the street without notice. A functional end to homelessness, however, means veterans living on the street can move into permanent housing within an average of 90 days of connecting with the right community-based response and service system.

And those systems are up and running throughout Virginia.

A state fact sheet puts it another way: A functional end to veteran homelessness means every community has "a sustainable, systematic response in place that ensures homelessness is prevented whenever possible, or is otherwise a rare, brief and non-recurring experience."

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