Anonymous
Source: County of Santa Barbara
The Santa Barbara County team established a goal to connect half of this population, or 75 Veterans, to safe and stable housing, as well as supportive services. Consideration was given to servicing the scope of needs, some of whom have families. At Day 100, the team made significant progress toward its goals: 46 Veterans were connected to safe and stable housing and supportive services, and the team continues to work toward its initial goals.
Following the 100-Day Challenge, team members debriefed to share their experiences and reflect on additional outcomes, such as developing regional landlord engagement practices, surveying Veterans to assess needs and develop resources, continuation of Veterans-specific Coordinated Entry System case conferencing and regular integration of Criteria and Benchmarks for Achieving the Goal of Ending Veteran Homelessness, using data to help problem-solve, and helping colleagues think through challenges and barriers while taking time to celebrate successes.
The team also identified roadblocks and barriers to overcome, such as small teams have limited time to engage and devote to the challenge, lack of participation from some key partners, aligning milestones with the overall goal, and data reporting. The team will prioritize system shifts through key insights gained during the challenge to expand access to resources through provider training and role clarification, continue data-informed decision-making, strengthen support for Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program providers and concretize informal relationships, increase and amplify voices of Veterans who have experienced homelessness, and shift resources to retention.
After struggling with addiction, one Veteran joined the Navy at 29 years old. Following boot camp, he was discharged from the Navy because of positive drug tests, despite being clean for a long time prior to joining. After his discharge, the Veteran regressed and began to struggle with addiction and homelessness. He moved around from Los Angeles to Sacramento, and eventually ended up in Santa Maria, where his sister lives.
During this time the client enrolled in college, but continuing a course of study was difficult due to unstable housing and support. In an effort to continue his sobriety, he entered a program in San Francisco, but shortly after his arrival he was discharged from the house. He then became homeless in San Francisco with no money and nowhere to go.
His sister reached out to him to get treatment and assistance in Santa Maria, where he ended up at the Rescue Mission. While in recovery, he fathered a son, gained visitation rights and was working toward creating a better future for himself and his son. The Veteran obtained a Family Unification Program (FUP) Voucher and with a service provider’s help, found a permanent home in November 2020.
This Veteran is grateful for the opportunities that came his way; he is now employed, has a permanent home, and weekend visits with his son. He has worked to break the chain and be a part of his child’s life. Through his recovery he learned to be a father. Through his pain he was able to rise to the top and provide a happy life for him and his son.
