Nearly 17 percent fewer Wichita veterans without shelter in 2016

Wichita saw a 16.7 percent decrease in the number of veterans without shelter from 2015 to 2016, according to a January estimate.

This puts Wichita about on track with the country as a whole, which saw a decrease of 17 percent, according to a news release Monday from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The national and local numbers were calculated using a “Point-in-Time” estimate, which has communities across the country count the number of homeless veterans on a given night in January.

The total number of veterans experiencing homelessness nationwide has been cut nearly in half since 2010, according to the release. Opening Doors, a strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness launched by the federal government in 2010, spurred partnerships between the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and other partner organizations at the federal, state and local level.

At a local level, areas of the country are divided into “Continuums of Care” – groups of organizations that work together to address issues of homelessness from temporary emergency housing to more permanent housing and related support systems. The Wichita/Sedgwick County Continuum of Care consists of 52 organizations, including Interfaith Ministries, the Dole VA Medical Center and United Way of the Plains, which meet twice a month.

In 2015, the Wichita/Sedgwick County Continuum of Care assisted 163 veterans in finding permanent housing. From January to June 2016, the coalition housed an additional 85 veterans, which Delane Butler of the United Way said would put the group on track to exceed the number housed in 2015.

One way the Continuum of Care has found housing for veterans is through the HUD-VA Supportive Housing Program, which combines HUD rental assistance with case management and clinical services provided by the VA.

There are 208 vouchers allocated to Wichita, according to Melissa Gronau, Healthcare for Homeless Veterans coordinator at the VA Medical Center, and all 208 are in use.

Some veterans are housed in Interfaith Ministries’ Interfaith Villas, located in the 800 and 900 blocks of Market. Interfaith has 104 villas, and though they are not for use exclusively by veterans, Interfaith executive director Anne Corriston said it works to put veterans in the affordable-housing apartments when they become available.

Interfaith also works with veterans at its emergency homeless shelters, Corriston said, working to get them vouchers from the VA or other affordable housing vouchers.

In addition, Gronau said almost 80 percent of the veterans who entered the VA’s emergency housing program locally are discharged into permanent housing, double the national target of 40 percent.

However, Gronau said the VA and the rest of the Wichita/Sedgwick County Continuum of Care still need help from community partners to further decrease the number of homeless veterans in Wichita.

“We need more affordable housing, we need help from local landlords, and we need help from employers so (veterans without permanent housing) can have safe and affordable housing and a way to sustain their housing,” she said.

This story was originally published August 1, 2016 at 6:12 PM with the headline "Nearly 17 percent fewer Wichita veterans without shelter in 2016."