This month, we’re joined by Anthony Love, Principal Advisor to the Executive Director for Intra/Inter-Agency Collaboration and Director of Community Engagement; Dr. Carmela Daniels, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program Specialist; and Dr. Matthew Stimmel, National Training Director for the Veteran Justice Programs to learn more about racial equity in homeless programs. Our guests talked about what equity is, what some of the unique challenges that minority Veterans face, and why it’s both critical (and okay) to center equity when providing housing and supportive services. Veterans who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness are strongly encouraged to contact the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at (877) 4AID-VET (877-424-3838) for assistance. Closed Caption Transcript is available at: https://www.sharedfedtraining.org/Podcasts/EVH_S1EP22.pdf =============================== Find your nearest VA: https://www.va.gov/find-locations Learn more about VA resources to help homeless Veterans: https://www.va.gov/homeless/ Listen to the episode with Mr. Anthony Love on unsheltered homelessness: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/s1ep13-how-va-helps-unsheltered-veterans-come-inside--53754756 Let us know your feedback: mailto:HomelessVets@va.gov

We’ve got a special bonus for you today from our sister podcast, She Wears the Boots. She Wears the Boots is a VA podcast sponsored by the Office of Women’s Health in the Veterans Health Administration. Women Veterans are a growing and diverse group featuring professionals, mothers, and retirees of varying ages, racial and ethnic backgrounds, gender identities, and sexual orientations. She Wears the Boots highlights how VA partners with women Veterans and their health by interviewing experts from VA on numerous topics, representing a broad range of VA programs. Their February 2024 episode featured Sean Clark, national director for Veterans Justice Programs in the Homeless Programs Office. During the episode, Sean talks about the VA programs available to justice-involved Veterans, the pathways to access those programs, and what Veterans can expect if they decide to enroll. We’re bringing you the episode in its entirety to you here. Veterans who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness are strongly encouraged to contact the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at (877) 4AID-VET (877-424-3838) for assistance. Closed Caption Transcript is available at: https://www.sharedfedtraining.org/Podcasts/EVH_Bonus_SWTB.pdf =============================== Find your nearest VA: https://www.va.gov/find-locations Learn more about VA resources to help homeless Veterans: https://www.va.gov/homeless/ Subscribe to She Wears the Boots: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/she-wears-the-boots-a-podcast-for-women-veterans--4604047 Learn more about Veterans Justice Outreach Programs https://www.va.gov/homeless/vjo.asp

News update! Jill Albanese, director of clinical operations for the VA Homeless Programs Office joins us with more exciting news about VA’s 2023 Homelessness Goals! Veterans who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness are strongly encouraged to contact the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at (877) 4AID-VET (877-424-3838) for assistance. Closed Caption Transcript is available at: https://www.sharedfedtraining.org/Podcasts/EVH_NewsUpdate.pdf =============================== Find your nearest VA: https://www.va.gov/find-locations Learn more about VA resources to help homeless Veterans: https://www.va.gov/homeless/ Learn more about VA’s 2023 Homelessness Goals: https://news.va.gov/118026/vas-goal-to-prevent-end-veteran-homelessness/ Watch our press conference announcement of the results: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmDC-AtFkp0

Bonus episode! In observance of National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, we’re joined by Amy Ashcraft and Katie Papke, the co-leads for VA’s National Human Trafficking Prevention and Education Committee. Our guests talk about what human trafficking is, why Veterans experiencing homelessness may be at greater risk of being trafficked, and what VA is doing about it. Veterans who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness are strongly encouraged to contact the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at (877) 4AID-VET (877-424-3838) for assistance. Closed Caption Transcript is available at: https://www.sharedfedtraining.org/Podcasts/EVH_Bonus_Jan24.pdf =============================== Find your nearest VA: https://www.va.gov/find-locations Learn more about VA resources to help homeless Veterans: https://www.va.gov/homeless/ Learn more about National Human Trafficking Awareness Day and the #WearBlueDay campaign: https://www.dhs.gov/blue-campaign/wearblueday If you or someone you know is a victim of human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 888-373-7888, text HELP to 23373, or visit https://humantraffickinghotline.org/en Learn more about federal legislation on human trafficking: https://www.justice.gov/humantrafficking/key-legislation

This month, we are joined by Dr. Keith Harris, senior executive homelessness agent for Greater Los Angeles with the Office of the Secretary, and Dr. Stefan Kertesz, a physician with the VA Birmingham Healthcare System, to learn more about Housing First. Our guests talk about what Housing First is, how VA has used it to cut Veteran homelessness by more than half, and why it’s become a controversial topic among policymakers and housing providers. Veterans who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness are strongly encouraged to contact the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at (877) 4AID-VET (877-424-3838) for assistance. Closed Caption Transcript is available at: https://www.sharedfedtraining.org/Podcasts/EVH_S1EP21.pdf =============================== Find your nearest VA: https://www.va.gov/find-locations Learn more about VA resources to help homeless Veterans: https://www.va.gov/homeless/ Read our article on VA’s implementation of Housing First https://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/featuredarticles/VAs-Implementation-of-Housing-First.asp Watch our video on risk factor profiles for homeless Veterans: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoHVm2N7u-A Read Dr. Kertesz’s article evaluating Housing First with the Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing Program: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28481597/

This month, we are joined again by Mrs. Monica Diaz, Executive Director of the Homeless Programs Office, with the Department of Veterans Affairs to reflect on how 2023 impacted Veterans experiencing homelessness and housing instability. Mrs. Diaz talks about the major initiatives VA implemented this year and shares her thoughts on how working as One Team is critical. Veterans who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness are strongly encouraged to contact the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at (877) 4AID-VET (877-424-3838) for assistance. Closed Caption Transcript is available at: https://www.sharedfedtraining.org/Podcasts/EVH_S1EP20.pdf =============================== Find your nearest VA: https://www.va.gov/find-locations Learn more about VA resources to help homeless Veterans: https://www.va.gov/homeless/ Listen to 2022’s Year in Review: https://www.spreaker.com/user/11014928/evh-s1ep8-2022-year-in-review-with-execu Listen to our bonus episode on the One Team Approach in Los Angeles: https://www.spreaker.com/user/11014928/bonus-oct-a-fireside-chat-with-greater-l Read our press release on VA housing more than 38,000 homeless Veterans in 2023, surpassing the goal two months early: https://news.va.gov/press-room/va-housed-38000-homeless-veterans-2023/

News update! Jill Albanese, director of clinical operations for the VA Homeless Programs Office joins us with some exiting news about VA’s 2023 Homelessness Goals! Veterans who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness are strongly encouraged to contact the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at (877) 4AID-VET (877-424-3838) for assistance. Closed Caption Transcript is available at: https://www.sharedfedtraining.org/Podcasts/EVH_SpecialEP_VAMeetsGoal.pdf =============================== Find your nearest VA: https://www.va.gov/find-locations Learn more about VA resources to help homeless Veterans: https://www.va.gov/homeless/ Learn more about VA’s 2023 Homelessness Goals: https://news.va.gov/118026/vas-goal-to-prevent-end-veteran-homelessness/ Read our mid-year update: https://news.va.gov/123148/va-to-house-38000-more-homeless-veterans-2023/

This month, we are joined by Lourdes Tiglao, the Director of VA's Center for Women Veterans and Tracy Emmanuel, the Deputy Director for the Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing Program to better understand homelessness among Women Veterans. Our guests talk about the unique challenges and barriers that homeless women Veterans face when accessing services and what VA is doing about it. Veterans who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness are strongly encouraged to contact the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at (877) 4AID-VET (877-424-3838) for assistance. Closed Caption Transcript is available at: https://www.sharedfedtraining.org/Podcasts/EVH_S1EP19.pdf =============================== Find your nearest VA: https://www.va.gov/find-locations Learn more about VA resources to help homeless Veterans: https://www.va.gov/homeless/ Landlords interested in renting to homeless Veterans: https://www.va.gov/homeless/landlords.asp Business owners interested in employing homeless Veterans: https://www.va.gov/homeless/cec-contacts.asp =============================== Check out VA’s Center for Women Veterans: https://www.va.gov/womenvet Email Center for Women Veterans: mailto:00W@va.gov Contact the Women Veterans Call Center: Dial 855-VA-WOMEN or visit https://www.womenshealth.va.gov/wvcc.asp Learn more about the I Am Not Invisible campaign: https://www.va.gov/womenvet/iani/ Learn more about the Women Veteran Trailblazers Initiative: https://www.va.gov/womenvet/outreach/trailblazers.asp =============================== Check out the Library of Congress Veterans History Project: https://www.loc.gov/programs/veterans-history-project Check out the Military Women’s Memorial (VA does not endorse Military Women’s Memorial and is not responsible for the content of the following linked website): https://womensmemorial.org Learn more about the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act as Amended by S. 896 Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2009: https://www.hudexchange.info/homelessness-assistance/hearth-act/ =============================== Find more resources for homeless and at-risk Veterans (VA does not endorse Community Solutions and is not responsible for the content of the following linked website): https://community.solutions/homeless-resource-locator/

Bonus episode! As part of VA’s 2023 Homelessness Goals, VA has adopted a One Team Approach to enhance how housing and supportive services are delivered to homeless and at-risk Veterans. In this virtual interview, which took place on October 10, 2023, host Doug Tetrault from the Technical Assistance Collaborative talks John Kuhn, Deputy Medical Center Director and Sally Hammitt, Chief of Community Engagement and Reintegration Service at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System on how Los Angeles is implementing the One Team Approach locally. We know this is going to be a discussion filled with jargon and technical terms. But we still think you’ll find it valuable, especially if you’re a homeless service provider or an invested member of the public. Veterans who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness are strongly encouraged to contact the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at (877) 4AID-VET (877-424-3838) for assistance. Closed Caption Transcript is available at: https://www.sharedfedtraining.org/Podcasts/EVH_Bonus.pdf =============================== Find your nearest VA: https://www.va.gov/find-locations Learn more about VA resources to help homeless Veterans: https://www.va.gov/homeless/ Learn more about VA’s 2023 Homelessness Goals: https://news.va.gov/118026/vas-goal-to-prevent-end-veteran-homelessness/ Read our mid-year update: https://news.va.gov/123148/va-to-house-38000-more-homeless-veterans-2023/ For more information about the One Team Approach, or to request technical assistance, email mailto:HomelessVets@va.gov.

This month, we are joined by Nikki Barfield, deputy director for VA’s Supportive Services for Veteran Families, or SSVF, Program. Ms. Barfield talks with us about what the program is, how their new Shallow Subsidy service helps rent-burdened Veterans, and how Veterans in need can get connected for help. Veterans who are homeless or at imminent risk of homelessness are strongly encouraged to contact the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at (877) 4AID-VET (877-424-3838) for assistance. Closed Caption Transcript is available at: https://www.sharedfedtraining.org/Podcasts/EVH_S1EP18.pdf=============================== Find your nearest VA: https://www.va.gov/find-locations Learn more about VA resources to help homeless Veterans: https://www.va.gov/homeless/ Learn more about SSVF: https://www.va.gov/homeless/ssvf/index.html Contact SSVF: https://va.gov Find a grantee near you: https://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/ssvf/docs/FY2023_SSVF_Providers.xlsx Find current grant opportunities: https://www.grants.gov/ Find more resources for homeless and at-risk Veterans (VA does not endorse Community Solutions and is not responsible for the content of the following linked website): https://community.solutions/homeless-resource-locator/