Homeless veterans make up roughly 12 percent of the homeless population. They are men and women of all races who served their country in numerous wars. The National Coalition for homeless veterans (NCHV) held their 25th annual conference to address the needs of these men and women on May 27 – 29.
NCHV’s goal is to be a “resource and technical assistance center for a national network of community-based service providers and local, state and federal agencies that provide emergency and supportive housing, food, health services, job training and placement assistance, legal aid and case management support for hundreds of thousands of homeless veterans each year.”
Robert McDonald, Secretary of Veteran Affairs, and Christopher Lu, Deputy Secretary of Labor, were the keynote speakers.
This year’s NCHV conference included speeches, policy reform discussions, and awards. The Jerald Washington Memorial Founders’ Award (the highest honor in the homeless veteran’s assistance community) was awarded to first lady, Michelle Obama and second lady, Jill Biden, for their work with “Joining Forces,” a program launched by the White House in 2011, with the goal of ending homelessness for veterans.
This is Michelle Obama’s second time winning the Jerald Washington award. She won it previously with her husband, President Barack Obama, in 2012.
In 2010, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) created a 5-year plan to end veteran homelessness; a new plan has since been introduced called “The Zero: 2016 Campaign,” which extends the deadline by a year.
The VA’s previous goal of ending veteran homelessness by 2015 aligned with the District of Columbia Interagency council on Homelessness (ICH)’s goal of ending veteran homelessness in D.C by 2015. Other ICH goals include ending chronic homelessness by 2017, and having families rehoused within 60 days by 2020. The plans are outlined in Homeward D.C, a document created to help end homelessness in D.C.
The theme of the conference was “Thank you for your Service,” in honor of all the veterans and the people that help them.
