On January 29th, 2015 I attended an event in Downtown Los Angeles along with national and local government officials, non-profit and philanthropic organizations and the local business community came together
to pledge to end veteran homelessness in Los Angeles County by the end of 2015. At a press conference
hosted by Home For Good, an initiative by United Way of Greater Los Angeles and The Los Angeles
Chamber of Commerce to end veteran homelessness in 2015 and chronic homelessness in 2016, the joint
task force unveiled a detailed Action Plan to meet its collective goals.
I am proud to be on the the Home For Good Business Leaders Task Force. Since its launch in 2010, Home
For Good partners throughout the region have housed over 12,000 veterans, with a current rate of 438
veterans housed each month. To achieve the goal of eradicating veteran homelessness by the end of the
calendar year, the community must house 538 veterans per month.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti; County Supervisors Sheila Kuehl, Mark Ridley Thomas and Hilda Solis;
and leaders in the non-profit, philanthropic, and business sectors were in attendance to publicly renew
their commitment to the goals set forth by Home For Good, including ending veteran homelessness by the
end of 2015, chronic homelessness by the end of 2016, and ultimately all homelessness in the region. Secretary of U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs, Robert McDonald, was the keynote speaker at the event,
which took place at The Rosslyn Hotel in DTLA, a SRO Housing Corporation, a permanent supportive
housing facility for formerly homeless veterans.
“We need to welcome home our veterans with much more than a smile and a hug, but with a life,” said
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
There are 39,500 homeless men and women in Los Angeles County, of which 4,618 are homeless veterans. To bring about solutions to end veteran and chronic homelessness, the Home For Good Action Plan
zeroes in on four core drivers to end veteran and chronic homelessness: sufficient resources, efficient
service delivery, excellence in quality and strong public and political will.
“Every region in Los Angeles County is impacted by veteran homelessness, and it will require a strong and
collective effort to eradicate the issue and house our homeless veterans still living on the streets,” said
Elise Buik, President and CEO, United Way of Greater Los Angeles. “We are grateful to receive renewed
support today from our federal partners, local officials, non-profit organizations and the business community, and believe this cross collaboration is what is required for us to be successful. I’m confident that with
this group effort, renewed focus and expansion of the proven Coordinated Entry System, we will eradicate
veteran homelessness in Los Angeles County in 2015.”
“If we end veteran homelessness