© 2024 WVIK
Listen at 90.3 FM and 98.3 FM in the Quad Cities, 95.9 FM in Dubuque, or on the WVIK app!
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

The Quad Cities Ends Veteran Homelessness

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

The Quad Cities has ended veteran homelessness. Today, the bistate region joins 79 other communities across the United States that have effectively ended veteran homelessness, according to the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. 

The designation doesn't mean there are no homeless veterans. Karen Abendroth with the Veterans Administration says it means the Quad Cities has infrastructure in place that will anticipate when a veteran may be at risk of eviction or unemployment and connect them with the resources they need. 

"We actually have more veterans going into permanent housing than we do coming into homelessness. When we have identified a veteran who's homeless, we can get them housed within 90 days. So, those are some of the federal benchmarks... to say that we've effectively ended homelessness." 

Abendroth says the program was made possible through a collaboration of government agencies, police departments, and non-profits. 

Marianna Bacallao is WVIK Quad Cities NPR's 2020-2021 Fellowship Host/Reporter. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Mercer University's Center for Collaborative Journalism and served as Editor-in-Chief for the student newspaper, The Cluster.
Related Content