NORRISTOWN >> Montgomery County officials have effectively declared veteran homelessness within the county a thing of the past.
“What I can tell you today is that we have reached the functional zero that we hoped to achieve and we now have a system in place that is capable of rapidly rehousing future homeless veterans,” said Sean Halbom, head of the county’s Department of Veterans Affairs.
Halbom’s presentation Thursday at the Montgomery County Commissioners’ meeting marked the fulfillment of a pledge made by commissioners in September.
“One hundred and seven days ago, the Montgomery County Commissioners signed a proclamation to end veteran homelessness in our communities by the end of 2015,” Halbom said. “The proclamation marked the final push of a two-year long endeavor that brought numerous local, state and federal partners together in the hopes of correcting this problem.”
Those agencies, along with federal Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers, helped find placement for every veteran looking for a home in Montgomery County. In February 2014, the county projected up to eight veterans who would become homeless in a month. At the time of the pledge made by commissioners to end the problem, there were four “literally” homeless veterans in Montgomery County.
“Young and old, black and white, male and female, the veterans we have served throughout this endeavor have been remarkably diverse. Likewise, the root causes of their housing crisis have been equally diverse,” Halbom said.
Veterans who suffer from mental illness, or who have drug and alcohol problems or health problems were all able to be housed due to the efforts of many county and human services agencies working together, creating a personalized solution for each and every veteran.
“This goal was as complex as it was aggressive, and our success in no terms means that we are finished,” Halbom said, explaining that a ‘functional zero’ means that veterans who were located and willing to accept housing were permanently housed. He said that homelessness among veterans in the future will be “rare, brief and non-reoccurring.”
Commissioner Josh Shapiro said it spoke to the values of Montgomery County, that the county was not only providing roofs over the heads of veterans, but found solutions that would help them stay in that housing.
“Those who have gone out and served this country and given so much of themselves for our freedom and our security and our peace, we’re never going to forget about them and we’re always going to look after them,” he said.
