January 27, 2023 – As part of VA’s nationwide goal to house 38,000 homeless Veterans in 2022, the VA Sunshine Healthcare Network (VISN 8) provided over 3,400 permanent housing placements to homeless Veterans. This number represents nearly 102 percent of the established goal for the network.
Permanent housing placements provided by VA staff and community partners included apartments or houses that Veterans could rent or own, often with a subsidy to help make the housing affordable. VA staff also helped some Veterans end their homelessness by reuniting with family and friends.
VISN 8 operates seven VA healthcare systems across Florida, South Georgia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These systems include a network of eight major hospitals and more than 60 outpatient clinic locations. The network is the largest in the country relative to patients served and accounts for 10 percent of the VA health care workload nationally.
The Bay Pines VA Healthcare System, North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System, VA Caribbean Healthcare System, and James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital achieved 104.3 percent (630 placements), 105.1 percent (744 placements), 138 percent (69 placements), and 102.5 (646 placements) percent of established local goals respectively. The Orlando VA Healthcare System, Miami VA Healthcare System, and West Palm Beach Healthcare System achieved percentages of 99.8 percent (522 placements), 96.3 percent (620 placements), and 81.6 percent (169 placements).
These placements, along with placements provided by other VA health care systems across America, led to VA housing 40,401 Veterans nationwide, meeting and exceeding its national goal by more than 6.3%.
“This goal was achieved through the hard work and dedication of our VA homeless programs staff across VISN 8, our grantees and contractors and our valued community partners despite several devasting hurricanes that impacted Florida and Puerto Rico,” said David B. Isaacks, FACHE, Network Director, VISN 8. “The homeless program teams were able to overcome these obstacles, which speaks to the strong relationships with our local public housing authorities and landlords answering the call to assist our nation’s heroes.”
Nationally, the total number of Veterans who experienced homelessness on a single night in January 2022, was 33,129 — a decrease of 11% from January 2020, the last year a full PIT Count was conducted. In total, the estimated number of Veterans experiencing homelessness in America has declined by 55.3% since 2010.
All of these efforts are built on the evidence-based “Housing First” approach, which prioritizes getting a Veteran into housing, then provides the Veteran with the wraparound support they need to stay housed — including health care, job training, legal and education assistance and more.
If you are a Veteran who is experiencing homelessness or at risk for homelessness, call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-4AID-VET (877-424-3838). Visit the VA Homeless Programs website to learn about housing initiatives and other programs for Veterans exiting homelessness.
