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[Music] Woman: If they need a home, they can get a home loan. If they need education, they can get education. If they were hurt in service, we pay compensation. If you weren't hurt in service, but you fell on hard times, we give you a pension. There's just an array of benefits out there for Veterans. And we really want to just make sure that all the Veterans know what's out there. Narrator: Choose VA today. For more information, visit va.gov [Link: www.va.gov] or call 1-855-948-2311. [Music] Tanner Iskra: Oh, let's get it. Monday, September 6th, 2021. Borne the Battle, brought to you by the US Department of Veterans Affairs. The podcast that focuses on inspiring Veterans stories and puts a highlight on important resources, offices, and benefits for our Veterans. I’m your host, Marine Corps Veteran Tanner Iskra. However you listen to Borne the Battle, be it Apple Podcast, Spotify, iTunes, iHeartRadio, the player inside the blog, hope you’re having a good week outside of podcast land. One new review came in to Apple Podcasts. This one is from Apple Podcasts out in Canada, Canamgi updated their review. Hope all is well out there, Canamgi. Says five stars- well actually Canamgi is in America right now, in Phoenix, as a matter of fact. The review says five stars, “VA tells it all. Sure glad I found this podcast as it is very interesting and worthwhile listening to. The host is a good interviewer. And I am listening at the American Legion convention, and this was a very interesting podcast.” Canamgi, I wish I did go to that convention, saw some photos from a colleague of mine, also fellow podcaster, Ashley out there, who looks like she had such a great time at the American Legion convention in Phoenix. I hope you got a chance to meet her as well as Jeff and Mark. All three of them are the hosts of American Legion’s Tango Alpha Lima podcast. Again, Canamgi, thanks for the review. As you already know, I'm looking for that next review. If you haven't yet, please consider writing one for Borne the Battle on Apple Podcasts. Doing so does help us climb higher in the algorithms, giving more Veterans a better opportunity to discover and listen to the interviews, our Benefits Breakdown episodes, and hear what's in our news releases. And it's also the best way for me to communicate with you. Here we go. News releases, got just one this week. Says “For immediate release. The Department of Veterans Affairs has expanded the shallow subsidy initiative and will grant $200 million to over 230 nonprofit organizations across the country and territories to provide housing rental assistance to extremely and very low income Veteran households eligible under VA's Supportive Services for Veteran Families program. The initiative funded by the American Rescue Plan is now available in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, and Guam, and promotes long term housing stability by providing rental assistance payments directly to landlords on behalf of eligible Veteran households for up to two years. The SSVF shallow subsidy initiative covers 35% of eligible Veterans’ rent for two years without the risk of subsidy decreasing if the Veteran's income increases during that two year period. That's unique. The purpose is to incentivize Veterans to increase their income through employment or other means. The initiative also works closely with the Labor Department's Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program to help Veterans secure unemployment. To learn more about VA's mission to end Veteran homelessness and how you can help, go to www.va.gov/homeless/stakeholders.asp [Link: www.va.gov/homeless/stakeholders.asp]. All right. In the spirit of the news release, this week's Benefits Breakdown is on the HUD-VASH program, which is a sister program to the SSVF program. HUD-VASH is a collaborative program between Housing and Urban Development and VA by combining HUD's housing vouchers with VA supportive services to help Veterans who are homeless and their families find and sustain permanent housing. Through public housing authorities, HUD provides rental assistance vouchers for privately owned housing to Veterans who are eligible for VA healthcare services and are experiencing homelessness. VA case managers may connect these Veterans with support services, such as healthcare, mental health treatment, and substance abuse counseling, to help them in their recovery process and with their ability to maintain housing in the community. Among VA's homeless continuum of care programs HUD-VASH enrolls the largest number and largest percentage of Veterans who have experienced long-term or repeated homelessness. At the end of fiscal year 2020, over 100,500 subsidized housing vouchers were allocated to HUD-VASH with nearly 80,000 formerly homeless Veterans living in their own permanent housing as a result of this partnership. We have their acting director, Meghan Deal, here on Borne the Battle to break it all down for you. And in addition we have Ken Leslie from a nonprofit called Veteran's Matter, who works with HUD-VASH, to explain how a nonprofit can help in these efforts. Enjoy. [Music] Tanner Iskra (TI): Meghan. It's good to be talking to a fellow Washingtonian. That's where I grew up. I grew up out in Grays Harbor. So, it's great to find. Meghan Deal (MD): Oh really? (TI): Yup. Yup. Grow out in Hoquiam and Aberdeen way out there. Actually, if you know where the, the town of Humptulips, population 300. I grew up out there. (MD): Absolutely. I've been here my whole life. I know right where that is. (TI): Love it. Love it. (MD): Welcome virtually home. (TI): Absolutely. Absolutely. So, Meghan, you're the current acting director of the HUD-VASH Program for VA, correct? (MD): That's correct. (TI): It’s not often that we have a national director of a program, not in DC, not located in DC. (MD): Yeah, no, our whole office is actual, actually virtual and that's a pre-pandemic set up. and it, and it helps. It helps us to connect to the field. We're kind of spread out around the country. So have a little bit more of a sense of what's going on opposed to what's going on on the ground. That's the intent anyway. (TI): Absolutely, absolutely. Now you're not a Veteran. We normally have Veterans, neither one of your Veterans. We normally have Veterans on Borne the Battle, but you've done social work your whole careers it seems. (MD): Yeah, that's absolutely true. I have—I am not a Veteran. I'm a civilian VA employee with the honor of serving Veterans. And I had been doing social work my entire career. And, I’m specifically with Veterans for the past 17, 16, 17 years. (TI): What has drawn you to Veterans as someone that— do you have Veterans in your family? Is it, is it something that you just fell into? How did, how did Veterans become your mission? (MD): Yeah, it's a really good question. I would say at the time I fell into it, you know. It's one of those things where you look back and you think, you know, that was meant to be in the way that the way that played out makes a lot of sense. But in the moment, it didn't. I've always been drawn to working with underserved populations, populations that, you know, are at times invisible. So, the homeless population in particular, any groups of people who don't have access to the resources they need, right. I, you know, to your question about whether I have Veterans in my family, I didn't perceive that I did. I know that sounds like a weird thing to say, but I certainly didn't grow up in a family with a military culture or any evident obvious discussions about that. My grandfather that I was very close to, was a World War II Veteran. He passed away when I was about 11. And it was something he never spoke of. So, it was one of these, you know, sort of secret things. And my relationship with him and who he was as a person in a lot of ways actually drove my desire to do social work. But I didn't connect that specifically to a Veteran identity because of the way he presented and displayed his experience. (TI): No, I completely, I completely understand. My, my great-grandfather when I got a bootcamp for the Marine Corps, that was the first time that I noticed in my grandfather's room, a picture of my great-grandfather in Marine Corps dress blues. Didn't know that, you know. So, I completely understand that, that you wouldn't, you wouldn't know until you, until you started digging into something like that. (MD): Yep, yep. Exactly. So, you know, in terms of social work, you know, it's a very broad field. I started working with doing street outreach type work with homeless populations, trying to connect them to services just with the general population. And I really fell into the VA, educationally, because there's such good training. So, I saw that as an opportunity to, to learn more, from all the amazing clinicians that work in our VA system. In that opportunity. I just, I fell in love with the population. I was like, these are, these are the people I want to work with. You know, it was, there was such a huge group of Veterans who needed and deserved the support. And, and in many places there's resources to provide to them. So, it was an opportunity that, you know, I jumped into. Never thought I'd want to be part of quote unquote, the system, but here I am. (TI): I don't think any of us thought of it that way as well. But you know, sometimes it's a great place to, to actually do some good. So, okay, Ken, again, not a Veteran. How did you, how did you get involved in helping Veterans? Ken Leslie (KL): It was an accident. I used to be homeless myself, so I understand what—how bad it can get. And one of the things, we started a homeless group a few years ago. And then when John Mellencamp got involved with it, it kind of grew and expanded. And one of the things our group does is we'll partner with the VA and go on to the woods in abandoned buildings and look for Veterans who are homeless. And we were doing one in my hometown in Toledo. And my friend with the VA told me about this great program the VA had to house homeless Veterans. This was 2012 and I'm like, “Bullshit, if it's so good, how come Freddy’s out of the house If he said he didn't have a $600 deposit?” And I said, “Well, what do you do when they don't have the deposit?” And she said, “Well, we take everything we can, we take him to the churches, VFWs and even help them beg for it.” And that broke my heart. That night came with this idea of Veterans Matter. We take their, of their own, write the check, the landlord, a hundred percent success rate. I needed 26,000 for 35 Veterans coming into my town. So, the next morning called the foundation. I said, “I need $26,250 and I need it fast because Veterans are waiting.” And you know, how slow foundations are. I mean, the government runs faster than some foundations. But in this case, seven days later, Valentine’s Day, 5:30, 6:00 PM. She called and said, “Here’s your full funding.” And three days after that, we housed our first Veteran, and it was 11 days might be in execution. When, when they're homeless on the streets, that's when they need us most. And they've given so much, I mean, I mean, they, they put their lives on line and I mean, they never quit fighting for us. So, we're sure as hell not going to quit fighting for them. We had an opportunity simple way, a simple way to get them into a program, a successful VA program that has a 91% success rate, keeping them housed. It’s just simple. (TI): Outstanding. Well, that's, that's the reason I'm here. I want to, I want to learn how simple it can be to get a Veteran off the street. With, I mean, I love that we, I have a, both, you know, a representative from, the HUD-VASH Program and a representative that is a nonprofit that is taken advantage to help us take an advantage of the program to help the Veterans, to use the program. So, so real quick, Meghan, can you give us a quick overview of the Housing and Urban Development, VA Supportive Housing Program, otherwise known as HUD-VASH? (MD): So, HUD-VASH is a collaboration actually, between two big federal agencies as it's named HUD, which provides a housing voucher, commonly known as like a section eight voucher, people typically refer to it as, to homeless Veterans. And then pairs that with case management and other supportive services through VA clinical staff members. So, essentially unlike a typical section eight program where an individual is provided just a housing voucher and told, you know, go out and find housing and, you know, have a nice life essentially. VA takes that and pairs that with the support that the Veteran needs. And those support services, you know, vary based on the individual Veteran need, but they are long-term and it's ongoing. The goal is to get the Veteran into permanent housing and help them sustain that housing over time. Overall we have 105,000 vouchers now that are awarded by HUD to Veterans. And, you know, we're working on getting all of those issued and in the hands of the right Veterans. (TI): Tracking, tracking. Real quick, and we kind of broke this down with John Kuhn, the SSVF National Program director, and a previous benefits breakdown, that you could, that if you're listening to this, you can, you can listen to that episode as well. But explain the relationship between HUD-VASH and the VA supportive services for Veterans Families Program, otherwise known as SSVF. How do those two work together? (MD): Absolutely. There's actually a lot of ways that HUD-VASH and SSVF partner, and sometimes they change to meet local needs. But at a, at a big level, HUD-VASH is really a program that's designed for Veterans who need ongoing support. We anticipate they're going to need both the financial assistance of the voucher and the case management and clinical support services likely long-term, not necessarily permanently, but over an extended period of time. The focus tends to be on the very most vulnerable of our Veterans, the ones with the most significant needs who might need the most assistance, getting themselves, you know, off the street and into permanent supportive housing. SSVF, does some additional services that had HUD-VASH can't do. It does homeless prevention. It has some services available to help people not lose their housing in the first place. And it does rapid rehousing, really helping people very quickly who have lost their housing get back in to housing with some case management support, but not necessarily the long-term support that HUD-VASH provides. (TI): Tracking, tracking. So, I also saw that there's funding that's given from SSVF to local nonprofits, correct? Like there's a whole list of those, like Ken could apply for SSVF funding? (MD): Correct. SSVF is a grantee model. So, the staff members who work for SSVF are actually community partner grantees. Whereas, with HUD-VASH by and large, with some exceptions, they're mostly VA staff members out of the VA medical center. (TI): Tracking. So, it's, it's, it's a program through from the VA, not through the VA. (MD): Correct. (TI): Got you. Ken, are you part of the SSVF program family? Have you been granted funding? (KL): We are not, we don't, we don't qualify. We partner with our SSVF partner here in town and nationally. And the way it seems to work is there are times when some areas don't have, or they've already gone through their SSVF allocations. And those are the times in some cases where they'll use our resources to be able to get the Veterans housed. They use us to, to be able to get the Veterans house free up, the SSVF money that they can use then for homeless prevention. In a sense, the leverage allows one for one for one, where every Veteran we help house reduces another Veteran who will not become unhoused. So, it's a really good symbiotic relationship and real heroes in the story are the, the VA social, social workers who are actually doing all the heavy lifting. And they're the ones that are making all of this happen. And when they have Veterans who have nowhere else to go, they let us know. And the Americans who give to our program become the guardian angels. Most of the Veterans that we house don't even know who house them, it’s so cool. (TI): Gotcha. So, so the VA social workers kind of the coordinator for a project on getting a Veteran, either preventing them from, from being homeless or reaching out to you for when they are homeless and then they need that deposit. (KL): Absolutely. And, and they, they go into the shelters. So they go into the streets, they go everywhere. When, when calls to the National Homeless Hotline come in, they'll dispatch people out to get them. And, and it's a really amazing symbiotic relationship between all of those who are rallied to help homeless families. And I think that’s the beauty of it. (TI): Got you. What's, what's your local SSVF nonprofit out in town that, that works with the VA? (KL): We just know it as SSVF. The five-county Rural Community Action Committee or Partnership, I think is what their new name is, but we partner with the SSVF and many cases on Veterans where, for example, they might have limitations where they can only help a Veteran up to X and then we'll cover the, the balance to be able to help that Veteran. So, it really is a nice, nice partnership. (TI): Gotcha. So, when the HUD-VASH kicks in, says we're going to have the vouchers. Do you help the Veteran with that paperwork or are you, are you there for, “Hey, that, that initial deposit we're there for you. The thing that HUD-VASH can’t cover.”? (KL): So, what’s cool is that we're small, we're efficient. The VA does all the heavy lifting. They find the Veterans, they help them find the place. They help the Veteran get the voucher. It's all negotiated. The problem is that the homeless Veterans don't have the deposit. And I know a lot of working people don't have the deposit. So how can we expect, you know, Veterans who are homeless or any homeless to be able to have that. So, that's where that process comes in. And when the VA social workers have Veterans who have nowhere else to go in any of our funded areas, they’ll go online at the point of contact. We have a very simple little referral form. They request the deposit, hit send, it's automatically approved because all the conforming referrals are automatically approved when we send the check the same day. So, we're able to reduce the time normally that would take from weeks to this to help get a Veteran housed. (TI): Yeah. So, HUD-VASH covers the, the month to month and you cover the initial deposit. (KL): Yep. (TI): Very cool. Gotcha. now Meghan, you talked—I thought the number of last number I saw was over 90,000 Veterans are currently using the program, the HUD-VASH program, but there's over a 100,000? (MD): So, yeah, that's an important distinction. It’s actually over 80, just, just about 80,000 that are currently housed in HUD-VASH vouchers. So, they're currently under a lease, right. And then there's, at any given time, a large number of additional Veterans who have a voucher that's issued to them that are looking for housing. So, that could be that they're having a hard time finding housing because they live in a community with very low housing vacancy. It could be they found housing and they need all the deposits and paperwork and information like the stuff that Veterans Matter offer. Or it could be, you know, that they're just early on in their housing search that we have an additional, number of vouchers that aren't yet utilized, right. That are there and available for Veterans and the amounts and the allocations really varies across the country. There was just a brand new allocation from HUD, just at the beginning of January of an additional nearly 5,000 more voucher. So that's part of that large number. (TI): Okay. There's 90,000 vouchers out there, but it's broken up by zip code or broken up by area? (MD): They're actually divided by area. So, the vouchers are awarded to public housing authorities, which is how HUD manages at the local level. So, the housing authority catchment areas vary. But each of those housing authorities that has an allotment of HUD-VASH vouchers is partnered with a local VA medical center. So, any given VA medical center might work with, you know, three public housing authorities, or they might work with 15 public housing authorities. And when they have a Veteran who meets the qualifications and is in need, they refer them to the public housing authority to get that voucher. (TI): Okay. What if all the vouchers are used in that particular area by the time that Veteran gets there? Is there a transfer program where they get a transfer from a different housing authority or is that more of a Housing Urban Development question? (MD): No. I mean, it's a HUD-VASH question for sure, because anytime a VA staff member in one of our homeless programs is working with a homeless Veteran, their goal is to assist that Veteran, to get into their appropriate, safe, and affordable housing with any available resource. So, it is absolutely a VA question. There are times that there is a transfer available. There might be a medical center that where Veteran says, you know, I really want to live in this area and that, that social worker or staff member who's working with them, you know, needs to let them know, you know, “Actually you're eligible for the program, but there's nothing available there right now, would you be interested in, you know, living across this county line? Over here because we have resources here.” There are other times that we work with Veterans who actually really would prefer to move home, be where their family is, and they might do some coordination there to see if there's any availability there. And sometimes there are times that there is a better option for a Veteran that might be HUD-VASH eligible, but there's nothing available and there's another resource in their community that we can connect them with, right. Rather than having them wait for the next available voucher. So, it really depends on the community resources and partnerships and the needs of the individual Veterans. (TI): Gotcha. At the end of the day, you're going to do what you can to get that Veteran a home. (MD): Absolutely our mission. (TI): Tracking. You talked about eligibility. How’s a Veteran eligible for HUD-VASH? I saw on your website, there are definition, definitions defined in the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act that your program adheres to. What does that mean? (MD): Yeah. So, the McKinney Homeless Assistance Act is a congressional act that defines what it means to be homeless essentially. Right. It takes something that we all use every day. So, we think we know what it means, and it really breaks it out with different categories. There's definitions for at-risk of homeless, there's definitions for chronically homeless, which somebody who's been homeless a long time, essentially in a layman description. Currently homeless, imminently homeless, you know, there's just all these, all these different breakouts. At its very basic level to be eligible for HUD-VASH you need to be homeless. So not currently housed in an, in an, what is normally considered an appropriate and safe place to live. And, and you need to be under whatever the local income threshold is for the public housing authority. That’s typically 80% of the average income of that area. That's the basic eligibility. What you referenced a moment ago though about capacity is, is really important because we have some regions of our country where we have way more Veterans that meet that eligibility criteria than we have available resources, right. And then we have other areas where all the Veterans who meet that criteria are able to get a HUD-VASH voucher. So, the way those resources are allocated and prioritized really look different community to community. But that's something we're always working with HUD together to try to balance out, right. Make those needs to match the resource. Yeah. (TI): Yeah, absolutely. Now I also saw a link on your website for the HUD's Office of Native American Programs. What's that about? (MD): Yeah, no, that's very exciting. I'm glad you brought that up. So, we have also in collaboration with HUD, obviously, what's officially considered a demonstration project, it's been going for quite a few years now called Tribal HUD-VASH. And essentially this grew out of the acknowledgement that, our tribal areas, there's many Veterans in our tribal areas and many Veterans in need. But the infrastructure is different. Housing resources are very different. There aren't public housing authorities in the same way that there are in the rest of the country. There are tribally designated housing entities that operate differently than public housing authorities that are off tribal land. So Tribal HUD-VASH from a Veteran perspective, functions very similarly to our standard HUD-VASH program. But at its base, it's structured a little differently. The tribes actually partner with HUD and receive grant funds to support housing homeless Veterans, and then VA provides case management services in the same way. So, you know, from a Veteran perspective, what it does is it allows the Veteran to get funds to support housing. These are tribal, tribal members in these various areas across the country. And then VA comes in and provides that case management support in partnership with the tribe, and really working with them to understand any unique cultural needs and issues that are relevant to them there. (TI): Say, I am the Quinault Tribe or say I’m the Chehalis Tribe, and I'm just throwing out some hometown love out there, and I'm not part of this program. Where can I go to apply? To get to be part of this? (MD): Absolutely. So, HUD, Office of Native American Program homepage, which I don't have the link in front of me right now. (TI): We’ll put it in the blog, put it in the blog. On blogs.va.gov. (MD): Wonderful. Has a link to the notice of funding availability, the NOFA and the tribes, that outlines how they would apply. What's very important is that the tribe would want to connect with their local VA medical center, and their homeless program lead to assist in helping assess the need. Make sure they've got all the information they need from that VA medical center, cause they would need a letter of support from the VA medical center saying, “Yep. We, you know, we support the tribe’s bid. We want to partner with them to, you know, serve these Veterans.” (TI): Great, great. Okay. Now once you're eligible for HUD-VASH. How is this program able to provide assistance? What's the first thing that the Veteran will see? (MD): So, you know, just to continue to go back to the mantra that the actual, you know, admission process or the way things happen look a little different in every community. Like what building that might happen in, or you know, who you might be talking to. But essentially what's going to happen is a, Veteran's going to have an initial assessment interview to make sure that they're eligible, to make sure that the team understands what are these Veteran's needs and what are their desires, right. What are they looking for? Confirm they really do want permanent housing, which, you know, 90% of the people we talked to do, if not more right. Confirmed that they know what areas they're interested in working. (TI): I was wondering if some don't? Are there some that don’t? (MD): There are, and I don't—to be fair here, I think, there's not a lot of, of Veterans or individuals who will say, “I don't ever want a safe, permanent place to live.” Right. I mean, you hear that. Some people don't want it, but I think it's core, you know, it's a human desire to have a safe place to live of your own. Right. That said, there are individuals who say, “You know, right now I really would like to go to a more supportive, residential treatment facility, for instance.” Right. I'd like to be involved in a shared housing program with other Veterans for a period of time. I feel like I need that. That happened sometimes. before my— (TI): I get my mind, right. But before I, before I take that chance. (MD): Yeah. (TI): Makes sense. (MD): Exactly. And I think it's important to note though, that that is not a requirement of the HUD-VASH program. You know, the core tenant of a HUD-VASH program is housing is a human right. The first thing we want to do is get people into a safe, affordable place. So, you're not going to find people saying you're eligible for HUD-VASH, but first you need to use your words, go get your mind right. That's not, that's not a thing because we really believe the best way to do that is to feel safe and cared for and have your basic needs met. Right. But sometimes a Veteran might choose to do something else first, but most of the time not, right. Most of the time they're gonna be great. And then, then it's a question of sorting out with them. “Okay, great. So, this is what, this is the areas that we might have a voucher available in. Where's your interest?” And once those things are matched up, you know, there's a period of, there's of course paperwork, always paperwork, where you're going to have the HUD-VASH case manager assisting the Veteran in completing, you know, getting together all the documentation that the housing authority needs. You know, if they don't have a state ID for instance, or, their DD214 or various pieces of ID that the public housing authority requires, then that case manager is going to help them get it. They might drive them there. They might direct them to where it is. Just whatever the level of support that that Veteran needs. Fill out the application and help them walk them through the process of getting the voucher issued from the housing authority. Once they have that voucher in hand, then it's about helping them find the housing. Sometimes you have a Veteran who says, “You know what, I know exactly what complex I want to live in. And I know there's vacancy cause I have, you know, a buddy who's over there in the lives there. And so that's where I want to go.” I would say that's not, that's not as common, ff course. Lots of times a lot of our homeless Veterans are in communities that have really low, residential vacancy, really high housing costs. It can be really hard, to actually find an available unit that’s affordable. (TI): That’s for example, like my hometown at Grays Harbor, I'm seeing that I'm seeing that back home, housing rates are just skyrocketing and so rent rentals are skyrocketing and there's not much vacancy. (MD): That's a really good example, Tanner. Cause I think a lot of times, when people think of challenges in finding housing, they think of the big urban areas, right? So, your example of Grays Harbor, you know, people think, “Oh yeah, Seattle has a really tight housing market,” But what you start to see of course is that that people are like, “Well, I don't want to live in that crazy market.” So, I'm going to go further. And I'm going to go further out from that area.” Right. and it pushes up the market and a lot of those, smaller communities just don't have the housing stock either. Right. So now the costs have gone up. There's more people moving there. and there's, there's not new buildings with lots of units going in all the time, so it can be really challenging. So, that's a core component of, of what, HUD-VASH case management team would do is really assist the Veteran in not only going out to visit units and communicating with landlords and helping, some folks need help knowing, “Well, what do you share with a landlord? What do you, how much do you tell them?” You know, “How do you interact? If you know, there's folks that have never done that before, but also just identifying where there might be vacant units. You know, our teams have connections with landlords who want to work with Veterans who have worked with the HUD-VASH program before, you know, and then they see that as part of their mission. So, making those connections is a big part of it as well. (TI): Tracking, tracking. Now Ken, you're the CEO of Veterans Matter, which, which helps Veterans find ways off the street. And you're out, you're out in Toledo. Not, not kinda urban but not too big. It’s not Seattle. you've housed 4,000 Veterans since your nonprofit started. And you've had some pretty big endorsements and support from ZZ top to John Mellencamp. How does HUD-VASH—first of all, how'd you get those endorsements? I want, I want that story. But two, how does HUD-VASH support your efforts? (KL): The way we view ourselves is more we're supporting the social workers who are on the front lines, giving them another resource to be able to help the Veterans who have nowhere else to go. So, our, our, our real customer in the sense is the Veterans, but the store that's selling to them is the HUD- VASH social workers. So, we deliver whatever we can to the social workers to give them that tool to do in minutes what customarily might take weeks to be able to find. And as of this morning, I'm happy to say we've housed 4,232 Veterans. And as soon as I get done with this podcast, we're going to house eight more today. (TI): That’s outstanding. (KL): Yeah, and the 9% of them are female Veterans and 26% of the people of the families are children, who are getting housed. 56% are army. Navy is 20%. Air force is 10%, marines with 13%. Guards 1%, but we haven't had any yet in the space force. (TI): Pretty new, pretty new to that. Okay. So, so to put your words back into your own mouth there, the VA social worker— so the way all of this works, is the VA social worker is the store. The Veteran is the customer. You're providing just an extra candy bar in the store bag of chips. (KL): Absolutely. (TI): Tracking. Gotcha. Gotcha. Very good. (KL): Again, I'm going to go back and as I said in the beginning and always say it's the social workers that do all of the heavy lifting. When they have the Veteran who has nowhere else to go, they'll do a simple online referral form that's got three questions and the landlord's information and the name of the Veteran, hit send. Those are automatically approved. And what we do is we'll send an email to the landlord and letting them know this is approved by the VA social worker and the Veteran, and then send the check the same day. We are really—the way we view our, our, our work is, is we operate at black ops speed just to help them maybe clear the landing zone to be able to get them housed. Because once we can house them, then the VA social workers provide this ongoing support. So, what we, what we do is we created a system. We don't really do anything out of it. We created a system that lets regular Americans house homeless Veterans when they need us most and that’s when they're abandoned on the street. (TI): Right, okay. How’d you get ZZ Top and John Mellencamp and some others to help you out with this? (KL): I alluded earlier. I was— I have a background in television and a standup comedian for, for eight plus years. And John coincidentally just came by. I started a homeless project in Toledo in 1990. And John Mellencamp came by our little thing and stopped in accidentally on his way to a sold-out show that night in Toledo. And, and he was just passing through to see what it was. And he and I bonded really well. He stayed over an hour, and he invited all the homeless at tent city to a show that night and 60, he made room for 60 people in a sold-out show. One came back after tent city and said, “Ken, John talks at some stage, I guess I really do matter.” And that's how 1Matters, our nonprofit began. And then, when, when I was looking to do, when I started Veterans Matter and found out there are 60,000 Veterans on the streets, I wanted to do PSA's and people like celebrities, so I emailed a friend said, “Hey, you know, who do you have this in the areas that might want to do this?” And my friend Bob M said, “Hey, Dusty Hill is actually there next Tuesday.” And so, we went up there, we did him, and that's when he said, “Hey, will you start this in Houston? And do the Veterans down there.” They've now housed over 1500 Veterans just in Houston because he says he felt called to help Veterans. (TI): Okay. So, so Ken, if, if someone is listening to this and wants to do what you do in helping Veterans like you do in Toledo, how should they start? And is there, is there maybe an expensive mistake that you learned from that they should know? (KL): The simplest way quite honestly, is for them to contact us and we'll set something up in their area because the, the unique thing about us is the delivery system. Our ability to be able to get their funds to the Veterans in literally minutes. I alluded to this earlier about, we did a national survey and the average time to get a deposit, 34% are one to two weeks. Another quarter of them are three to five weeks where it takes to be able to, over half it could take up to five weeks to get that deposit. And that's because of the local resources that are available. Sometimes they take time, sometimes it's SSVF, sometimes it's other programs. So, if they really wanted to set something like up, like this up, one, if there's already the program locally, you'd want to go support them. And if not, contact us and we'll set it up so we're able to deliver their capacity in minutes. (TI): Gotcha. If they want to set up their own piece of candy in the store at their local area, Maybe that, that, how would they go about—sorry, go ahead. (KL): Real simple. I'll get ahold of the funds, create the funds and then get ahold of the local, HUD-VASH program and let them know that they have those resources available. You know, there's, there's, there's never enough. We, of the 4,000 Veterans that we've housed in, I think we're in 28 states now. So, there’s half of America that still has a need greater than what we can provide. (TI): Very good. Very good. If someone is listening to this and, and they are either homeless or about to be homeless or, or they know a homeless Veteran, what is the first thing that they should do? First, I'll go to Megan, then I'll go to Ken. (MD): So, Tanner, I would say that the most efficient way for someone who is experiencing homelessness or worried about it, or know someone who's struggling with this, the first thing they should do is call our 1-800 number. The VA has a 1-800 number for homeless Veterans. It's 877-4AID-VET. 877-424-3838. That's a 24-7 number. Folks will ask a couple who answer, ask a couple of really quick questions. And then they direct them to the appropriate local resource to follow up with that Veteran, and they should receive a response back same day. That is a universal way to get connected with the appropriate and available resources in their local community. (TI): Outstanding. Ken? (KL): Exactly the same answer. That's what we tell people to do, because that's the way to get connected to the program. That, that is the shortest route to get connected and that's what we recommend every, everybody who is in need or know somebody in need make that call. (TI): You know, I love it when I have a government representative and I have a local nonprofit on the street representative and the answer's the same. I love hearing that. Everyone: [Laughter] (TI): Finally, that's what, that's what I want to hear. Finally, for both of you, you know, we've covered a lot of ground, but is there anything that I might have missed or didn't ask, that you think our audience would like, that they should know? And first we’ll go to Ken, and Meghan, you can, you can take it home. (KL): I think that the coolest thing is how amazing people are in stepping up to be able to help house homeless Veterans. One of our primary, corporate advocates is a company called First Nation Group, and they out of the 4,000 plus that we placed, about 1500 of those were funded by their amazing employees who came together. The Veterans Service organizations have about 25, another 25% of the Veterans that were housed. Service groups, entertainment, radio, all stepped up because there are Veterans in need who need us right now. And, and when you know they possibly could die if you don’t, you just do. And what our donors do is they actually give the chance to turn the key in the door to go in, rather than get turned back to the streets, because if they don't have the deposit, they have to go find it somewhere. (TI): Very good. Meghan? (MD): You know, I think Ken said it well and has said it well all the way through, but I really think the key is that all of this work and our success in this work, it is a partnership. You know, I work for the VA homeless programs. I work for HUD-VASH because I believe in this government program, which is a pretty amazing thing to be able to say. I believe in the mission of the program. And I believe in the work and the resources that, that we have. That said, we can't do it alone. HUD-VASH at its core is a partnership between HUD and VASH. We can't assist our Veterans colleagues and our Veterans that we serve with housing without the partnership of landlords, property developers, our public housing authorities, our other programs like the non-profits who run as SSVF grants and agencies and private citizens like Ken and Veterans matter that fill in the gaps. And those gaps look different in every community, right. So, that's a matter of fact, a gap, but it looks different in different places, and you know, none of us have all the pieces. So, that partnership is really essential and it's a core. There's a place, for everyone to get involved in fixing this problem we have in front of us. (KL): Meghan, you and Tanner—we've just, well, you know, we've housed almost a hundred Vets up in Washington, and I think Meghan, did you talk to any of the social workers locally? (MD): You know, I have. Some of, you know, I think you've described it well, Ken, how Veterans Matter has been used in some areas of Washington, which is really to fill the gap when there wasn't another community resource available, right. The folks who've used Veteran Matter to house homeless Veterans here for those deposit assistance have talked about times where, you know, they looked at all the normal resources, the normal agencies they go to, to assist the Vets in getting their move-in deposit money at the last minute and those have been exhausted for whatever reason, right. All the normal channels were gone, and they were able to quickly go to Veterans Matter and say, “Hey, we need this right away or this Veteran's going to lose access to this unit.” Right. And that came through in a pinch. And so, it really, locally in the area I'm in is used exactly how you describe Ken. It's not the first line because there are other resources available in a lot of cases, but when there's not, it comes through in a pinch. (TI): Wait, so, Veterans Matters, it's—you're based in Toledo, but you've housed Veterans all over the country? (KL): Right, in 28 states nationwide. And it's all because people come together, and I think I wrote down Meghan, from your talk, we're the funder of last resort for Veterans who have nowhere else to go, and I think that really summarizes it. And that's a really, really cool way to—you know, they talk about people that fall through the cracks. You know, these are Veterans who will get turned back to the streets if they don't have it without the other resources that are available. And I think that that's just how it works. You know, you talk about the different candy bars that are in the store. Sometimes some sell more than others in different markets. The bottom line together, collectively all of these pieces are what make it happen. And, and that again is making sure that every single homeless Veteran has the home for the brave in the land of the free. [Music] Woman: I chose to be an outreach worker because of the fact that I’d been there, I know what it is to be homeless. When I utilized my VA bill to get my house, that was like, the biggest thing that ever happened to me in my whole life because they helped me get a piece of the American dream. Narrator: Choose VA today. For more information, visit va.gov [Link: www.va.gov]. [Music] (TI): Wanna thank Megan and Ken for coming on and breaking down such an important resource for us and for their patients in getting their episode out. You can find more about the HUD-VASH program at www.va.gov/homeless/HUD-VASH.asp [Link: www.va.gov/homeless/HUD-VASH.asp]. This week’s Borne the Battle of Veterans of the Week, and yes, Veterans, are the 13 Veterans that we lost in the August 26th attack in Kabul. Marine Veteran Darin Hoover of Salt Lake City, Utah. Marine Veteran Johanny Rosario Pichardo of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Marine Veteran Nicole Gee of Sacramento, California. Marine Veteran Hunter Lopez of Indio, California. Marine Veteran Daegan Page of Omaha, Nebraska. Marine Veteran Humberto Sanchez of Logansport, Indiana. Marine Veteran David Espinoza of Rio Bravo, Texas. Marine Veteran Jared Schmitz of St. Charles, Missouri. Marine Veteran Rylee McCollum of Jackson, Wyoming. Marine Veteran, Dylan Merola of Rancho Cucamonga, California. Marine Veteran Kareem Nikoui of Norco, California. Navy Veteran Maxton Soviak of Berlin Heights, Ohio. And Army Veteran, Ryan Knauss of Corryton, Tennessee. We honor their service and we welcome their families with open arms into the Veteran community. [Three-volley salute] That's it for this week's episode, if you yourself would like to nominate a future Borne the Battle Veteran of the Week, so we can all learn their story, you can. Just send an email to [email protected], include a short writeup and let us know why you’d like to see him or her as the Borne the Battle Veteran of the Week. And if you're hearing this for the first time and you liked this podcast episode, hit the subscribe button. We’re on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast, iHeartRadio, pretty much any podcasting app known to phone, computer, tablet, or man. For more stories on Veterans and Veteran benefits, check out our website, blogs.va.gov [Link: www.blogs.va.gov] and follow the VA on social media- Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube RallyPoint, LinkedIn. DeptVetAffairs, US Department of Veterans Affairs, no matter the social media, you can always find us with that blue check mark. And, as always, I'm reminded by people smarter than me to remind you that the Department of Veterans Affairs does not endorse or officially sanction any entities that may be discussed in this podcast nor any media products or services they may provide. I say that because the song you're hearing now is called “Machine Gunner,” which is courtesy of the non-profit Operation Song. And it was written by Marine Veteran Mick McElhenny, Nashville songwriter Jason Sever, and Mykal Duncan. Have a great day. Thank you for listening and we'll see you right here next week. Take care. [Music]