Homeless veterans still a growing issue
BUTLER TWP — Veterans Affairs is anticipating a rise in the number of homeless military veterans in the coming years, but the people who aid with housing at the VA Butler Healthcare System have always been able to meet the needs of local veterans experiencing homelessness.
The Butler County office — which serves Butler, Armstrong, Clarion, Lawrence and Mercer counties — helped 48 veterans find housing in 2024 through its HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program. Assistance the VA provides through the service doesn’t end when a veteran finds housing — the agency provides “wrap-around services” to make sure an individual doesn’t land back in a situation where homelessness is a risk.
Summer Clapper, HUD-VASH coordinator with VA Butler Healthcare, said on Thursday, Nov. 6, that many of the people in need of permanent housing are in their 60s or older, and many suffer from debilitating mental health conditions. What’s more, some of these individuals have mobility issues, so the VA frequently needs to find apartments or houses that can accommodate the use of walkers, wheelchairs and scooters.
“The number is getting higher, the age is getting higher … they are medically fragile, so finding them suitable apartments is more of a challenge,” Clapper said. “Definitely have seen an increase, and it is projected to increase.”
Clapper shared information on the program during a Community Voices session Thursday, which was organized by staff of Slippery Rock University. With Veterans Day, organizers said the session was planned “to recognize Homelessness Awareness Month, but also the critical mass of veterans who have given so much who can benefit from these services,” according to Josette Skobieranda Dau, associate director of community impact and partnerships at SRU.
Clapper said that while getting a veteran housed is one accomplishment, keeping one in stable housing is equally difficult because of everything a person needs to take care of the rest of their living situation.
“We are wrapping those folks with geriatric services, so housekeeping, in-home primary care,” she said, “connecting them with the Area (Agency) on Aging, getting them senior meals, anything that will help them stay in place as long as possible.”
As there are hundreds of veterans in the Butler County area alone in need of housing assistance, the conference room at Butler VA Healthcare on Thursday had several people in it who have collaborated on initiatives focused on veteran aid.
In attendance were Samantha McCandless, community engagement and partnership coordinator for VA Butler Healthcare, and Stepfanie Armstrong, the founder of the Homeless Bag Project, which gathers and distributes supplies to people in need.
McCandless’ role encompasses many duties related to administrative work at the VA and also coordinating efforts aimed toward keeping veterans in good mental health. As she explained, the homeless population is considered high-risk for suicide completion, so the VA has come up with methods to prevent a person from getting to the point where they are considering suicide.
These include providing iPads to veterans who need a way to communicate with the VA that doesn’t set off their personal triggers, setting a phone application up that offers affirmations and other reminders, and even mailing their medicine for easier access.
McCandless said she also makes sure veterans she works with know emergency numbers like 988, which can be called for mental health emergencies.
“The nursing committee for social work actually developed an app for the homeless to use to help remind them to take meds and the emergency numbers,” McCandless said. “Suicide prevention (personnel) works very closely in providing free resources.”
Personal care can also become pivotal to a veteran’s health once placed in stable housing. Clapper explained that building a relationship with veterans in supported housing is integral to the program, because, over time, VA staff can explore touchy topics like why a person might not want to take their medicine and what sets them off about setting up a doctor appointment.
There are six people on Clapper’s team who all work on housing initiatives in the five-county region covered by the system. Additionally, the VA has social workers who perform a variety of functions for veterans in dire need.
The VA has a finger on the pulse of veteran needs on a wide scale. The agency performs regular “gap assessments” so administrators know where to focus resources.
“As things change … we are constantly assessing and evaluating a program and its needs,” said Paula McCarl, public affairs and veteran experience officer at VA Butler Healthcare. “Based on that evaluation … adjustments will be made.”
According to Clapper, veterans can be referred to the HUD-VASH program by staff of the VA, who check in with veterans who come in for appointments about their current living situation. Housing, food insecurity and mental health are continuously touched upon in doctor’s appointments, Clapper said.
It’s not just a VA effort, Clapper said she is in contact with other agencies like the Center for Community Resources and the Butler County Area Agency on Aging to make sure veterans get the wrap-around services she mentioned. Additionally, the VA has good relationships with landlords in the area who are open to leasing properties to veterans who may not have the best track record when it comes to housing.
“We have 157 veterans in my program at a time and we have some landlords who might have 10 to 20 of our veterans,” she said.
The need for housing is constant, so collaboration with the Area Agency on Aging and the Housing Authority of the County of Butler is important. McCandless also said that despite potential increases of the number of homeless veterans in the coming years, the VA has, so far, always been able to keep its clients housed and take on new ones.
“Any challenge that has ever come to Butler VA especially, we meet it,” McCandless said. “Dropping a vet — we don’t do that. So we’ll find a way. We always do.”
