The Clackamas County
Veterans Village – a transitional shelter
community for homeless veterans – is showing tremendous signs of
success just two months after opening.
The goal of this innovative project is to provide
decent, safe and sanitary shelter for the county’s homeless
veterans so that they can transition to being
self-sufficient.
Each resident gets to stay in their own pod
structure, can access shared community spaces, and has access to
needed services.
After nearly two years’ worth of efforts by county
staff, nonprofits, businesses, volunteers and others, homeless
veterans started moving into the Clackamas-area village on Oct.
4.
The fast, positive results are startling:
· Two
individuals who entered the village have already transitioned
into permanent housing. These transitions were made through
the county’s Social Services housing programs.
· Two
other individuals have secured employment since becoming
residents. Three others are pursuing potential employment with a
local fire department after being approached by a
representative.
· Two
other individuals that previous relied on emergency medicine have
now established primary care physicians and have regular
medical visits.
· One
individual has enrolled in classes at Clackamas Community
College.
“The village is working exactly as designed, and
doing so very successfully,” stated Clackamas County Housing
Policy Coordinator Vahid Brown. “This success is happening more
quickly than anticipated. I cannot say enough about the good work
of Do Good Multnomah, which operates the site for us.”
The establishment of the village has also
potentially saved lives. Since moving in, three residents
experienced extremely serious and urgent health problems,
necessitating emergency services to rush to the scene. If these
veterans had been on the streets – away from this new community –
each one would have risked death.
One key aspect to the Vets Village project is that
the veterans can access needed services on site. Thus far,
regular visits are being held by:
· Veterans
Affairs (VA)
staff, including individuals from the Veterans Affairs Supporting
Housing (VASH) program, and a Veterans Services Officer who helps
establish or re-establish veteran benefits
· Easter Seals
Oregon, which assists in finding employment and
obtaining needed job certification
· Goodwill
Jobs, which
connects participants to employment opportunities.
“This is a great success thus far, but Clackamas
County is taking a holistic approach to the housing challenges
that all of our residents face,” states Clackamas County
Administrator Don Krupp. “We are committed to doing what we can
so that all of our residents have access to safe, affordable
housing.”
Commissioner Paul Savas, an early supporter of the
project, linked this early result to the Board of County
Commissioners’ goals.
“We have a goal to end veteran homelessness in the
county by the end of 2019,” states Savas. “This is good news and
a great example toward achieving that goal.”
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