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.