On Wednesday, December 19, the Northeast Minnesota Continuum of Care (CoC) announced they have cleared their housing waiting lists for homeless veterans.
The Northeast CoC consists of six counties (Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, and Lake Counties) and three Tribal Governments (Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Grand Portage of Lake Superior Chippewa and Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe) that surround St. Louis County.
The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, HUD, and VA determined the six counties and three Indian Reservations served by the Northeast CoC have effectively ended homelessness among veterans, becoming the fourth jurisdiction in the state of Minnesota to do so. The West Central, Southwest and Northwest CoCs all declared an end to veteran homelessness in 2017.
“Congratulations to all the partners in the Northeast Minnesota Continuum of Care for making sure local veterans have a place to call home,” said Matthew Doherty, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. “Building an effective system over such a large, mostly rural area is no small task, and places like Northeast Minnesota should be proud of leading the way.”
Across the state, efforts since December 2014 have housed 1,622 previously homeless veterans. Minnesota’s unique statewide Homeless Veterans Registry is largely credited as a key to success in housing homeless veterans.
Since it launched in 2014 the Registry has accelerated Minnesota’s progress toward the goal of ending veteran homelessness by creating individual housing plans based on each veteran’s unique challenges and situation. Once on the Registry, Veterans experiencing homelessness are typically housed within four months.
Today (Dec. 19) the Registry lists another 251 veterans by name who are experiencing homelessness in Minnesota. Of this number, approximately 69 have a housing plan. Research demonstrates that the most lasting solutions are personalized for each individual or family on a veteran by-veteran basis
“Now is not the time to take our foot off the gas,” said Cara Lundquist, co-coordinator of the Northeast Continuum of Care. “Ending veteran homelessness here in the Northeast CoC does not mean that we will never have another homeless veteran. Rather, it means that our efforts will largely be focused on prevention. When homelessness does occur, the goal is that the systems in place will rapidly respond and make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring.”
Lundquist and partners advocate that as veterans who have not yet come forward for assistance become known, or as veterans have crises and find themselves homeless or at risk of homelessness, it is critical to continue to maintain the integrity of the strong systems and supports that have helped achieve functional zero.
Locally the Cook County Veterans Service Officer is Pat Strand. She can be reached at veteran.services@co.cook. mn.us, 411 W. 2nd Street, Grand Marais, MN 55604, PH: 218.387.3639
The Grand Portage Veterans Service officer is Clarence (Clinker) Everson. He can be reached at (218) 475-2780 or emailing clarence.everson@state.mn.us or by writing to Clarence Everson, Veterans Service Officer PO Box 117 Grand Portage, MN.
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