The VA Sunshine Healthcare Network in Florida told Sebastian Daily they provided housing for more than 3,400 homeless Veterans in 2022. The number represents nearly 102 percent of the established goal for the network.
“Permanent housing placements provided by VA staff and community partners included apartments or houses that Veterans could rent or own, often with a subsidy to help make the housing affordable. VA staff also helped some Veterans end their homelessness by reuniting with family and friends,” a spokesperson told Sebastian Daily.
The VA Sunshine Healthcare Network operates seven VA healthcare systems across Florida, South Georgia, Puerto Rico, and even the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The network is the largest in the country and has eight major hospitals and more than 60 outpatient clinic locations.
Number of homeless vets placed into housing:
- 522 – 99.8% achieved by Orlando VA Healthcare System
- 620 – 96.3% achieved by Miami VA Healthcare System
- 169 – 81.6% achieved by West Palm Beach Healthcare System
- 630 – 104.3% achieved by the Bay Pines VA Healthcare System
- 744 – 105.1% achieved by North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System
- 69 – 138% achieved by the VA Caribbean Healthcare System
- 646 – 102.5% achieved by James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital
These placements led to VA housing 40,401 Veterans nationwide, meeting and exceeding its national goal by more than 6.3%.
According to David B. Isaccks, Fache, Network Director, the homeless program teams were able to overcome these obstacles, which speaks to the strong relationships with our local public housing authorities and landlords answering the call to assist our nation’s heroes.
“This goal was achieved through the hard work and dedication of our VA homeless programs staff across VISN 8, our grantees and contractors, and our valued community partners despite several devasting hurricanes that impacted Florida and Puerto Rico,” he said.
Nationally, the estimated number of Veterans experiencing homelessness in America has declined by 55.3% since 2010.
The total number of Veterans who experienced homelessness on a single night in January 2022 was 33,129 — a decrease of 11% from January 2020, the last year a full PIT Count was conducted.
