Letter from Veteran Services Leadership
On behalf of Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF), we appreciate your willingness to continue the journey toward ending Veteran homelessness in our community. Over the past year, our SSVF team served more than 200 Veteran households. Through ongoing case management support, these families have transitioned from homelessness to housing and been able to maintain housing stability by increasing income through employment and connecting with education and training opportunities.
Through a joint mission, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have challenged Veteran service providers nationwide to house 38,000 veterans by Dec. 31, 2022 in our country’s efforts towards ending veteran homelessness. As of Oct. 31, collectively, we are not only on target to complete the mission but to exceed it! This progress would not be possible without the collaborative efforts occurring locally in communities nationwide.
Here in Lane County, over the last fiscal year (10/1/2021 – 9/30/2022) our Veterans Service Team has helped 100’s of Veterans access services and achieve permanent housing!
- 323 Veterans served
- 285 Veterans housed (That is an 88 percent success rate of connecting Veterans experiencing homelessness with the resources they need to become or remain permanently housed!)
- 436 individuals served, including 60 minors
- 102 chronically homeless Veterans served
Locally, SSVF grant funds provide Rapid Re-Housing (RRH) to support unhoused Veteran households and Homeless Prevention (HP) for Veteran households at risk of homelessness within 14 days. SSVF case managers coordinate with housing providers by connecting Veterans with emergency shelter, transitional housing, and Permanent Supported Housing (PSH) projects. Your donations also allow us to assist Veteran households with navigating resources for long-term stability: food benefits, mental health/medical providers, and transportation resources.
How Your Donations Help Veterans and Veteran Families
Your monetary giving to SVdP Veteran Services helps Veterans and Veteran families in need. Some examples of ways donated funds are used:
- Community donations to help pay for Veteran funeral and burial costs so that families may focus on grieving, notifying other loved ones, and planning next steps without the weight of “How am I going to pay for this?” looming.
- Donations help Veterans pay for veterinary care or registration of their service animals so they can move into housing with their four-legged family members.
- During the holiday season, SSVF uses donated funds to help Veteran families supplement gifts for their children that we’re unable to help pay for from our of grant money funds.
- The SSVF team frequently utilizes donations to help Veterans respond to the curveballs life throws their way. We are unable to pay for an array of items for Veterans in need from our grants, and this monetary flexibility allows us to better serve the Veterans we work with in the best ways possible.
Thank you for your support and ongoing donations. Together, we will continue to provide Veteran households in Lane County with a safe and stable place to call home.
This Veterans Day, we recognize all individuals who have and continue to defend our nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic. Thank you for your service.
Sincerely,
Veteran Services Team
St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County
Click here to donate directly to our Veteran Services programs: https://bit.ly/DonateVeteranServices