As the rest of the nation prepared to celebrate Veterans Day with holiday sales and a big televised concert on the National Mall, the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA) staged a Veterans Appreciation Day event.
The Nov. 7 program at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center brought together service providers from all over the city with the goal of helping homeless vets find housing and assisting housed vets with the challenges of keeping up with bills, rising rents, and staying in their homes. More than 500 local vets seized the opportunity.
One was 28-year-old Christopher Sneed, who retired from the U.S. Army in March. He brought his wife Kristina and their three-year-old daughter. Under the GI Bill, Sneed has been attending the University of Maryland, studying criminal justice. However, he is having trouble finding a job.
“When my husband got out of the military, we started to have trouble with bills,” Kristina Sneed explained. The Sneeds fell so far behind they lost their housing. For a while, they stayed with friends and relatives. Bouncing from home to home, they looked for other options. Repeatedly, shelters they called or visited were full, she said. Other times, she and her daughter were accepted for shelter but her husband did not qualify. Frustrated, the Sneeds turned to their last option. They started sleeping in their truck.
When Kristina Sneed’s friend told her about U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) programs to help homeless veterans, the Sneeds went to the agency to describe their problem. After the VA reached out to DCHA, officials from the two agencies worked together to find a suitable place for the family. The Sneeds received keys to their new home at the Veterans Appreciation Day event.
Landlord Tiffani Cowan had tears in her eyes when she offered the Sneeds the key to their townhouse. “When I heard about this homeless family and their situation, I wanted to make my home available,” she said. Cowan added she was happy to think of the Sneeds’ little girl having a safe and stable home in which to grow up. “We really just wanted her to have a place to do kid stuff, and now she does.”
In addition to Cowan, the event drew other landlords and service providers from throughout the area who offered information on housing, rental and utility assistance. Veterans were also able to seek employment, health benefits and other supportive services.
Speakers, including DCHA Executive Director Adrianne Todman, who spoke from a podium emblazoned with a sign reading “End Veteran Homelessness,” brought messages of hope and shared their passion for ending homelessness among veterans.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) counted 49,933 homeless veterans earlier this year. While still astronomically high, the total reflects a 33 percent decline since 2010, suggesting that federal and local efforts to end homelessness among veterans are working.
HUD, the VA, the US Interagency Council of Homelessness (USICH) and local partners such as DCHA have been working together in recent years to accomplish the goal of ending veteran homelessness. They use subsidized housing programs such as HUD-VASH (the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Voucher Program) to get veterans off the street and into safe housing. Since 2008, the HUD-VASH program has served 74,019 veterans. According to DCHA director Todman, the agency has awarded nearly 900 VASH program vouchers to vets. “They’ve served our nation and risked their lives. It’s the least that we can do for them,” she said at the event.
Though housing services were well-represented at the event, housing is part of a larger constellation of needs that must be addressed, Todman observed. “We wanted to provide a broad scope of services because housing isn’t the entire solution. It is just the start. To look good, sometimes you have to feel good, too.”
The DCHA recruited volunteers from all over the city to assist the participants throughout the day. People from all backgrounds, such as Howard University freshmen Quiata Mitchell and Chardynea Crossdale, rallied together to provide support.
“These veterans need our help,” Mitchell said. “We are blessed to have enough, and so we should give back to those who do not, even if we don’t have money to give. It’s a huge problem in the community. These veterans deserve to have a roof over their heads.”
