VA Homeless Programs
Message from Monica Diaz, Executive Director, VHA Homeless Programs Office| June 2021
June 2021
VHA’s Homeless Programs Office (HPO) is recognizing several meaningful observances this month—June is posttraumatic stress (PTSD) Awareness Month and Pride Month, and Juneteenth is on Saturday, June 19. HPO joins these communities in celebrating each of these special observances. Each aligns with HPO’s goal of helping all Veterans access the help required to secure or remain in stable housing, regardless of their backgrounds, because many Veterans who are homeless are living with PTSD, are members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), and related identity communities, and/or are Black Americans.
PTSD Awareness Month is a crucial observance for HPO and VA as a whole since many of the nation’s Veterans live with PTSD. Research from the VA New England MIRECC and the Yale School of Medicine found in 2017 that 5.6% of more than 300,000 Veterans who had been referred to VA anxiety or PTSD clinics experienced homelessness within the one-year time period of the study. The VA National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans makes available many resources, trainings, and research findings to support the creation of innovative PTSD treatments. VA aims to use PTSD Awareness Month to spread the word that effective PTSD treatments are available, and HPO endeavors to ensure that Veterans experiencing homelessness have access to these treatments as well.
June is also Pride Month, during which we recognize and honor those in the LGBT and related identity communities. Veterans in these communities can experience housing instability at higher rates than other populations — VA estimates, for example, that more than 9,000 transgender Veterans have received VHA care, and those individuals are more than twice as likely to have indicators of housing instability than cisgender Veterans. Transgender Veterans and other LGBT Veterans may experience greater housing instability because of discrimination, unemployment, and other forms of marginalization. HPO is dedicated to providing the highest level of support to this population, as is the entire VA enterprise. VA’s Office of Resolution Management, Diversity and Inclusion Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Program makes this commitment plain: “The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community is an integral aspect of our human diversity.”
Diversity, inclusion, and equity are always at the forefront of HPO team members’ minds, especially this month as we look ahead to Juneteenth, also called “Freedom Day” or “Emancipation Day.” This observance celebrates the day in 1865 that African Americans in Texas, who remained enslaved under Confederate governments more than two years following the Emancipation Proclamation, were told they were free by executive decree. Juneteenth is an important and symbolic day, because it celebrates the end of involuntary servitude and paved the way for America to live up to its stated ideals and promises. Emancipation led to the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which ultimately ended slavery in America. Despite the progress since then, the institution of slavery casts a long shadow on America’s past and present. HPO is mindful that, for example, in every state, Black Americans are more likely than white Americans to experience homelessness. We keep such disparities in mind as we work toward our mission of ending Veteran homelessness in the United States.
We hope you’ll consider the unique needs and circumstances of these Veteran communities this month and every month, and that you’ll enjoy learning more about our work and about Veterans’ success stories in this newsletter.
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Veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness can call or visit their local VA Medical Center (VAMC) and ask for a Homeless Coordinator. Use the VA locator tool www.va.gov/directory to find your nearest VAMC and call or visit today.
