ATLANTA (AP) \u2014 Along a busy Atlanta residential road, a 68-year-old Vietnam War-era Army veteran has found what he calls a \u201cmatch made in heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Harold Tilson Jr. found himself homeless earlier this year but for the past few months has been living in transitional housing run by the nonprofit Veterans Empowerment Organization, or VEO. It provides emergency and permanent housing for dozens of previously homeless military veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re homeless and you need help, you couldn\u2019t ask for a better place to go because they take care of just about everything,\u201d Tilson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s part of a years-long effort by government agencies and nonprofits around the country to address homelessness among veterans. Since January 2020, the numbers of homeless veterans have fallen 11% and have gone down 55% over the past 13 years, according to a government count. That\u2019s in sharp contrast with the general homeless population.
One of 10 transitional housing rooms for formerly homeless veterans at the headquarters of Veterans Empowerment Organization plans is seen Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023 in Atlanta. The Atlanta-based nonprofit houses dozens of veterans and helps put them on a path toward employment and housing independence.(AP Photo\/R.J. Rico)
Authorities credit the Obama administration\u2019s work to make housing veterans a top priority and more recently the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package that boosted the Department of Veteran Affairs\u2019 homeless programs and expanded rental aid. Advocates also point to partnerships between government agencies, nonprofits and corporate foundations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last month, the VA gave $1 billion in grants to community nonprofits for the upcoming year to tackle the issue, the most ever, said Jill Albanese, director of clinical operations at the Veterans Health Administration\u2019s Homeless Programs Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t something that we\u2019re doing on our own: This is really something that we\u2019re doing through partnerships,\u201d Albanese said. \u201cThey\u2019re the experts on homelessness in their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, the number of veterans living on the streets is significant. There are more than 33,000 homeless veterans, according to the 2022 Point-in-Time count conducted by the VA and Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And much still needs to be done, said Kathryn Monet, CEO of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, calling it a \u201cmoving target\u201d \u2014 just as people are moving out of homelessness, others become unhoused every day. Affordable housing is key, she said, though communities nationwide have struggled with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Along with housing, the VEO offers classes about financial literacy, securing VA benefits and how to get on a path toward employment and housing independence. There\u2019s also a common area for reading and a gym for working out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are proud to say that we are not a shelter. This is a program center, meaning the veteran has to put some skin in the game,\u201d said Tony Kimbrough, a former military intelligence officer and CEO of the nonprofit, which started in 2008 with a single two-bedroom house. \u201cWe\u2019re going to put a ton of it in there, but we expect a little bit of back-and-forth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tilson became homeless in February when he was forced out of the triplex he was renting south of Atlanta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He spent the next month and a half sleeping in the street or on business doorsteps, relying on friends from his church for food or access to a shower. Church members steered him to local nonprofits and he eventually landed at VEO, where he has been living in emergency housing, has taken a five-week financial literacy course and is focused on improving his credit score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tilson, who suffered a stroke last year, said he needs a knee replacement and hernia surgery to address the physical toll carrying his belongings took while he was homeless. A VA case manager is helping him get those, and he\u2019s optimistic that in a few months he\u2019ll get to move into his own place, with the help of VEO and another local nonprofit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His friends from church are thrilled about the help he\u2019s getting, Tilson said, but \u201cnobody can be happier than me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to 10 double-occupancy rooms housing veterans like Tilson in emergency shelter, the VEO campus has 41 apartment units where veterans pay a few hundred dollars in rent. VA funding makes up the difference, allowing the nonprofit to reinject the money and expand. Its next project is 20 single-occupancy bedrooms being built this winter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
VEO says it expansion would not be possible, without more than $2.3 million in corporate donations from The Home Depot Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Atlanta-based foundation has helped some 50,000 homeless veterans nationwide through its partnership with nonprofits like VEO. It has donated $500 million to veterans causes since 2011, and on Friday announced a commitment to giving an additional $250 million by 2030.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Company employees have also volunteered more than 1.5 million hours in service to veterans, including building or repairing 60,000 houses and facilities for former service members. On Friday, 20 members of \u201cTeam Depot\u201d were finishing a weeklong project to build a garden, complete with a water feature, in honor of Veterans Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen we think about the role that corporate foundations can play, it boils down to three things,\u201d said Jennifer A. Taylor, a political science professor at James Madison University and a military spouse who studies philanthropy and veterans issues. \u201cAre you a funder \u2014 giving out grants for others to do the work? Are you a doer \u2014 taking employees out into the community? Or are you a convener \u2014 bringing thought leaders together? Home Depot is doing all of those things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Home Depot CEO Ted Decker said the company\u2019s giving philosophy was always housing-centric but was \u201cpretty disparate\u201d before 2011. That\u2019s when then-CEO Frank Blake, realizing that tens of thousands of employees were veterans or spouses of veterans, decided to focus the company\u2019s philanthropy on veteran housing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the progress that\u2019s been made, there are still tens of thousands of homeless veterans, including nearly 3,500 in the Los Angeles area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Navy veteran Malcolm Harvey III spent years living on the streets in Southern California, including Los Angeles\u2019 Skid Row. In 2015, a representative from the nonprofit U.S. Vets helped him get a job with the organization. Speaking gigs on behalf of The Home Depot Foundation followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, Harvey, 62, is married, owns a condo and works as program director at the Long Beach nonprofit People Assisting The Homeless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t become numb to this,\u201d Harvey said of the homelessness problem among former service members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe made a promise to them when they took that oath and put on that uniform and decided to defend this country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe owe them a debt of gratitude. But we owe them more than that: We owe them action.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n