News Release - Rochester completes FLOTUS' 'Mayor's Challenge to End Veterans Homelessness'

City of Rochester


News Release



(Wednesday, May 18, 2016) -- The Rochester community has met First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness,” Mayor Lovely A. Warren announced today. To meet the challenge, communities had to achieve a status of “functional zero,” meaning that housing is available for all homeless veterans that seek it.

“Our veterans fought for us, and now it’s time to fight for them,” Mayor Warren said. “Meeting the First Lady’s Challenge and achieving functional zero shows that our community is dedicated to helping our veterans. However, we recognize that we cannot stop at providing housing. We must continue to work to ensure that our veterans have access to jobs, safe neighborhoods and quality educational opportunities after they leave the service.”

Mayor Warren announced Rochester’s functional zero designation at the Fourth Annual Veterans Mental Health and Homeless Summit at Nazareth College. She was joined by Holly Leicht, Regional Administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Erin Militello, the Healthcare for Homeless Veterans Program Manager for the Veterans Administration, Michael Swartz, the Interim Canandaigua Medical Center Director, County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo, Todd Baxter, executive director of the Veterans Outreach Center and Amy D’Amico, chair of the Homeless Continuum of Care in Monroe County.

In addition, Marine Corps Veteran Emil Anderson shared his story.

In 2010, President Obama launched Opening Doors, the nation’s first-ever comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness. Since then, veteran homelessness has declined by an incredible 36 percent; family homelessness dropped 19 percent, and chronic homelessness fell 22 percent. This progress has been made possible with support from the President and First Lady and every level of government, in partnership in the private, non-profit and philanthropic sectors.

“Rochester joins a growing list of cities across the state and nation that have effectively ended veteran homelessness after committing to the Mayors Challenge,” said Holly Leicht, HUD Regional Administrator for New York and New Jersey. “Through collaboration at every level of government, bolstered by the hard work of nonprofit partners providing 'boots on the ground' services, and innovative strategies like Housing First, the Obama Administration has created a model for ending homelessness not just for veterans, but also for families, children, and ultimately all homeless individuals. Today, we celebrate further proof that targeting our collective focus and resources really works.”

The decline in veteran homelessness is largely attributed to significant investments made by the U.S. Congress and the close partnership between HUD and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on a joint program called HUD-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH), which provides a rental subsidy along with supportive services for those veterans who need them. In that time, nearly 80,000 vouchers have been awarded and more than 104,000 homeless veterans have been served through the broader HUD-VASH program.

“The Canandaigua VA Medical Center (CVAMC) and Rochester VA Outpatient Clinic (ROPC) Healthcare for Homeless Veterans team has worked diligently, in collaboration with multiple community partners, to achieve this goal. This is a goal that absolutely could not have been accomplished without an amazing coordinated access plan, which Rochester has” said Erin Militello, Program Manager, CVAMC Homeless Programs. “This designation does not mean our work is done and although we are proud of this achievement it does not take away from the fact that we have continued work to do. We will continue to outreach to Veterans that have not accepted housing opportunities and we will transition our service of care to a more proactive approach. We are honored to serve our Nations hero’s and will continue to do so.”

"Rochester/Monroe County’s achievement proves the critical role that leadership plays in our urgent work to end homelessness in this country,” said Matthew Doherty, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. “When the right leaders come together around the right strategies, like they have in Rochester, we no longer need to ask if we can end homelessness, but how soon.”
Mayor Warren was one of 880 community leaders from across the country to accept the challenge. Rochester is the 15th community to achieve functional zero.

What is functional zero?
Functional zero means that every veteran in the community has access to both housing and the supports they need to avoid living on the street.

How many homeless veterans live in Rochester?
The 2015 Point in Time count found 55 homeless veterans, including 17 in emergency housing, 33 in transitional housing, one in safe haven and four unsheltered. All four unsheltered veterans had refused assistance, and no veterans had requested services and remained unassisted.

How did we achieve functional zero in Rochester?
The Veteran’s Administration’s health care for homeless veterans program does weekly outreach to identify veterans, working in conjunction with other resources in the community, including the Continuum of Care, the Veteran’s Outreach Center, the City of Rochester and Monroe County.
In addition, the community has resources, plans and system capacity in place should any veteran become homeless or be at risk of homelessness in the future.

What are the next steps?
The community is committed to ensuring that veteran homelessness is rare, brief and non-recurring. In addition to securing housing, community leaders will continue to work together to ensure that our veterans can secure the services they need and have access to jobs, safe neighborhoods and quality educational opportunities.

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Media contact: City of Rochester Press Officer Jessica Alaimo, 428-7135