Why Veteran Homelessness Is Declining: Lessons for Ending All Homelessness

The Numbers Tell the Story

According to the 2024 HUD Annual Homeless Assessment Report, 32,882 veterans experienced homelessness on a single night in January 2024. This represents a 55.6% reduction from 2010, when veteran homelessness peaked at approximately 74,000.

To put this in perspective: during the same period that veteran homelessness dropped by more than half, overall homelessness increased by 18% in a single year (2023 to 2024) and reached 771,480 people, the highest number ever recorded.

Veterans were the only population to see continued decline in 2024. Every other demographic, individuals, families, children, people experiencing chronic homelessness, hit record highs or saw significant increases.

What Made the Difference: The Key Programs

The decline in veteran homelessness did not happen by accident. It resulted from intentional policy decisions, sustained funding, and coordinated implementation of evidence-based programs. Three initiatives stand out:

HUD-VASH: Housing and Services Combined

The HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program combines Housing Choice Vouchers from HUD with case management and clinical services from the VA. This is not just a housing subsidy. It is a comprehensive support system.

Veterans in HUD-VASH receive:

• • Rental assistance vouchers that make housing affordable
• • Ongoing case management from VA social workers
• • Access to VA healthcare, including mental health services
• • Substance abuse treatment when needed
• • Employment assistance and job training
• • Benefits counseling to ensure they receive all entitled support

Since its creation, HUD-VASH has helped house more than 100,000 veterans. The program recognizes that housing alone is not enough, but housing is the foundation that makes everything else possible.

SSVF: Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing

The Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program takes a different approach: preventing homelessness before it happens and rapidly re-housing those who have recently become homeless.

SSVF provides:

• • Short-term financial assistance for rent, utilities, and deposits
• • Help finding and securing housing
• • Legal assistance for eviction prevention
• • Credit counseling and financial planning
• • Connection to VA benefits and community resources

The philosophy is simple: it is easier and cheaper to keep someone housed than to help them recover after they have lost everything. A small intervention at the right moment can prevent years of homelessness.

Coordinated Entry and By-Name Lists

Perhaps the most important innovation was not a program but a system: coordinated entry. Communities serving veterans created "by-name lists" that tracked every homeless veteran individually. Instead of anonymous statistics, case workers knew each person by name, understood their specific needs, and coordinated services across agencies.

This allowed communities to:

• • Prioritize the most vulnerable veterans for immediate housing
• • Avoid duplication of services across agencies
• • Track outcomes and adjust strategies in real-time
• • Identify gaps in the system and address them
• • Measure progress toward the goal of functional zero

The Underlying Principles That Made It Work

Beyond specific programs, the success with veteran homelessness reflects several key principles that can be applied to any population:

1. Housing First, But Not Housing Only

The veteran programs embraced Housing First philosophy: get people into stable housing quickly, without requiring sobriety or treatment completion as preconditions. But they did not stop there. Housing was paired with ongoing services tailored to individual needs.

This is different from both traditional models (which required treatment before housing) and pure Housing First (which sometimes provided housing without adequate support). The veteran approach recognized that housing enables recovery, but support ensures it sticks.

2. Sustained Political Will and Funding

Ending veteran homelessness became an explicit national goal in 2009 under the Obama administration. This was not a one-time initiative but a sustained commitment across multiple administrations and Congressional sessions. Funding for HUD-VASH and SSVF increased consistently over more than a decade.

The political consensus was bipartisan. Supporting veterans has broad appeal across the political spectrum, which protected funding even during budget battles that cut other social programs.

3. Cross-Agency Collaboration

Success required HUD and VA to work together in ways that are rare in government. Housing vouchers came from one agency, services from another. Local communities had to coordinate between federal programs, state agencies, and nonprofit providers.

This collaboration was formalized through the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, which coordinated strategy across 19 federal agencies. The lesson: ending homelessness requires breaking down silos.

4. Data-Driven Decision Making

The by-name list approach transformed how communities understood and responded to homelessness. Instead of annual Point-in-Time counts that provided snapshots, communities maintained real-time data on every veteran experiencing homelessness.

This allowed for accountability. Communities could see whether their efforts were working. They could identify which veterans were falling through the cracks. They could celebrate specific individuals housed rather than abstract percentage improvements.

5. A Defined Population with Clear Identity

Veterans have a clear identity and documentation. It is relatively easy to verify veteran status and connect individuals to the VA system. This made coordinated services more practical than with populations whose eligibility is harder to establish.

More importantly, the veteran identity carried moral weight. Americans feel a special obligation to those who served. This created political support and community engagement that other homeless populations often lack.

Applying the Lessons More Broadly

The veteran success story proves that homelessness is not inevitable. It can be dramatically reduced through coordinated effort. The question is whether we can apply these lessons to the broader homeless population.

The challenges are real:

• • The non-veteran homeless population is much larger (700,000+ vs. 33,000)
• • There is no equivalent to the VA providing integrated services
• • Political support is weaker for populations without veteran status
• • Funding levels are far below what would be needed to scale the approach

But the principles remain valid:

• • Housing paired with services works better than either alone
• • Prevention is more cost-effective than crisis response
• • Coordinated systems outperform fragmented services
• • Data and accountability drive improvement
• • Sustained commitment over time produces results

What The Steady Ground Takes From This

The Steady Ground is built on the veteran model, adapted for the broader population of men experiencing homelessness. We take the lessons that worked:

• • Housing as foundation: Stable housing on campus before expecting other progress
• • Integrated services: Medical, mental health, addiction treatment, job training all in one place
• • Individual tracking: Every man known by name with a personalized restoration plan
• • Long-term support: Continued connection through transitional housing and alumni network
• • Identity and purpose: Building a sense of belonging and meaning, not just providing services

The veteran programs had the advantage of a unified federal system. We are building the equivalent at the local level: a comprehensive restoration community that provides everything a man needs to rebuild his life, all in one place, with coordination built into the design.

The veteran success story is not just inspiration. It is a proof of concept. What worked for those who served can work for all who are struggling. Homelessness is solvable. The veterans proved it.