Since August 2013, officials said, 1,390 Philadelphia veterans have been connected to permanent housing. Mayor Nutter said 15 remain on the streets because they don't want to be housed.
"I have a message for each of you who are still out there," he said at a City Hall news conference, pausing for a moment to collect himself. "We honor your service and your sacrifices. You deserve a home. We won't give up on you."
The announcement - by Nutter and Julián Castro, U.S. secretary of housing and urban development - comes about a year and a half after the mayor accepted a national challenge from President Obama to end veteran homelessness by the end of 2015. About 859 mayors, nine governors, and 166 county and city officials took the challenge.
According to HUD, veteran homelessness has decreased 33 percent nationally, and about 15 municipalities have reached the "functional zero" goal, including large cities such as Houston and smaller communities like Troy, N.Y.
Virginia declared it was at functional zero last month, on Veterans Day. Philadelphia officials had pledged to meet the same goal, but came in about five weeks behind.
Marie S. Nahikian, the city's director of supportive housing, said she believed that the city made the Veterans Day deadline, but that the federal government wanted to see more data and further assess the system Philadelphia put in place before making the designation.
Nahikian said homeless veterans in Philadelphia are placed in emergency housing in a few days on average, in transitional housing in 47 days, and in permanent housing in 105 days.
Castro on Wednesday called on the city to help other municipalities "as they reach for that finish line," and to apply the lessons learned in this project to ending homelessness. City officials said there are about 600 chronically homeless people in Philadelphia.
"You have actually done it. You have effectively ended veteran homelessness," Castro said. "The thing is that we can't stop our work until every single veteran has a place to call home in the United States. That means that you have a role to play in teaching other communities how you did it."
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20151218_Homelessness__effectively_ended__for_Philly_vets__officials_declare.html#EmxFeS58VBmy46BK.99
More cities need to follow in steps to house the vets and others as well.. we should not have empty homes and people living in the streets..
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