Dr. Laurie Harkness said it's estimated another 591 veterans in Connecticut will become homeless in the next year.
There's 13 months to go in the federal VA's five year plan to end veteran homelessness.
VA staff and community partners in Connecticut met this week at a summit to discuss how they plan to reach the goal by the end of 2015.
Dr. Laurie Harkness is the Director of VA Connecticut's Errera Community Care Center in West Haven. Staff there work to connect chronically homeless veterans in the state with services like substance abuse treatment and housing options.
Harkness said Connecticut is working hard to reach the goal to end homelessness among veterans. She said it's estimated another 591 veterans will become homeless in the next year.
"The traditional view is that they are 55 and older, that they're Vietnam era veterans, and that they're largely men," Harkness said. "But this has begun to change in the last three to four years. There's a new reality of who the homeless population is. We have the older veterans, but we have the younger soldiers who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Our largest growing population are female veterans. And then there are the frail elderly, and persons with chronic medical conditions."
Harkness said there are many initiatives underway to help them, including a growing availability of transitional and permanent supportive housing units. She stressed that the VA can't do it alone, and must lean on state and community partners.
Governor Dannel Malloy's administration has also committed to the goal to end veteran homelessness by next December.
