Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center surpasses goal, houses over 200 homeless veterans
The Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center as a part of the VA’s nationwide homelessness goals for 2023, announced that they were permanently able to house two hundred and eight homeless veterans.
Last year, more than 35,000 veterans experienced homelessness, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
That marks a 7% increase, or almost 2500 more veterans without a home between 2022 and 2023.
“We were extremely excited and very proud of our team because we did in fact house 208 veterans. Those are two hundred and eight people whose lives we were able to change for the better, ” Shannon McLafferty, the Healthcare for Homeless Veterans Coordinator, said.
The Wilkes-Barre VA’s original goal was to house one hundred and twenty two veterans but they’ve well surpassed that goal.
The directors of the Wilkes-Barre VA homeless program say that they were able to do it by collaborating with local housing authorities.
They also exceeded its Unsheltered Veteran Engagement goal by 225% engaging with 169 unsheltered Veterans, connecting them with the housing and resources they need to attain and remain in housing.
The Homeless Program at the medical center aims to go beyond just housing veterans but also continuing the work to keep them home, even providing them with mental health and drug and alcohol rehabilitation to continue to put them on the right track.
Alexis Kelly the Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Coordinator tells me the Homeless program is willing to offer aid to veterans multiple times, as going through any programs to inch toward recovery is not always a one stop shop.
“If they go through a program it doesn’t mean that they can’t come back again and again and again, chronic homelessness is a revolving door. It has that relapse back into homelessness and that’s going to happen. That’s why we track that, to be here for them when that does happen,” Kelly said.
The VA Social work team encourages any veterans struggling with homelessness to contact their social work office.
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