Regional Shift in Veteran Homelessness, Down 21% YTD

Our region’s approach to ending veteran homelessness is working. Veteran homelessness is down 21% this year, and in the last 6 months, we’ve seen a significant shift despite overall increases in homelessness. According to Community Solutions, “a shift constitutes a measurable, meaningful reduction in homelessness for a community. More specifically, it means that a community has driven the number of people experiencing homelessness below their median for six consecutive months.” Shifts tell us when there has been a fundamental, sustained change in our region’s systemic response to veteran homelessness.

Data above from our by-name list tracks the number of veterans experiencing homelessness across the region in real-time. From March to August 2023, we’ve seen a 15% reduction in veteran homelessness. This means our by-name list went from 433 Veterans in March to 366 in August. Year-to-date, the number of veterans has decreased by 21%, from 468 to 370 veterans actively experiencing homelessness. This puts our region on track to reach our goal of reducing veteran homelessness by 25% this year, from 468 to 351 veterans.

Lauren Lapinski, a licensed clinical social worker with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), celebrated the win. “Our community has made a SHIFT in veteran homelessness, which means we have consistently seen a decrease in our overall number of literally homeless veterans in our Continuum of Care for the past 6 months,” shared Lapinski. “Thank you to all our community homeless providers for their incredible efforts to end veteran homelessness in our area, homelessness is solvable.”

A lot of factors and hard work across the region contributed to these reductions, some of which include:

1. Strong Partnership with the VA

2. Abundance of Veteran Housing Resources

3. Veteran-Specific Case Conferencing

4. Local Case Conferencing for Veterans off of BNL

5. Increased Collaboration across the Region

6. Every Sub-Region Using HMIS

7. Community Building at Metro Denver Learning Sessions

8. Community Solutions Investments in Affordable Housing Stock

9. Coordinated, Person-Centered Outreach

Over the last 2 years, MDHI has collaborated with local governments, homelessness agencies, and Community Solutions to create a sub-regional response to end veteran homelessness using the Built for Zero (BFZ) framework. The goal is to reach function zero, a sustainable system where fewer veterans experience homelessness than can be routinely housed in a month.

We began with veterans because of the abundance of resources for this specific population. Having this proof point is essential, as it will provide a framework and guidance on how to end homelessness for other populations. In setting and piloting this foundation, we can begin to identify gaps in our systems, build out capacity, and apply for targeted investments. More information about how the learning and data infrastructure from solving veteran homelessness will be translated to other populations in the near future.