For decades veteran homelessness has been a real and persistent problem in the U.S. There didn't seem to be a solution, but that is no longer the case. All around the country, veterans are breaking the cycle and winning the fight. Stars and Stripes reported that a national effort to end veteran homelessness by the end of 2015 was pushed by the Zero: 2016 campaign, organized by the nonprofit Community Solutions, and by President Barack Obama's administration. The White House first announced the initiative in 2009, and has been steadily working toward the goal since.
Connecticut was the first state to end chronic veteran homelessness, but others are following suit. Houston, New Orleans and other cities have also achieved the goal, and some states, like Pennsylvania and Rhode Island, are nearing the mark. In Rhode Island, for example, one Vietnam veteran who was without a home for two years, and who spent time after that living out of a six-man room in a shelter, now has a modern one-bedroom apartment outfitted with new furniture and a TV, plus a rental voucher and a monthly allotment for rent and utilities.
About 50,000 veterans were still homeless by early 2014. That was down 33 percent from where the homeless rate stood in 2009, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Mr. Thompson, a veteran, told the Gazette that the cycle of homelessness "is easy to break. The guys just don't want to do it. The pride sets in." Even in their life after service, those who wore the uniform know how much self-reliance matters. But encouraging veterans to ask for help is absolutely essential to ending veteran homelessness. One of the Veteran Administration's greatest challenges is convincing former servicemembers that seeking help to get their lives back on track isn't a form of weakness – it's a sign of strength.