#TBT: Barack Obama Cuts Veteran Homelessness By 50%

     On May 20th, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act in response to the housing crisis brought about during the 2007-2008 recession. Part of this law was the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act, which mandated the United States come up with a strategy to combat homelessness and created new vouchers to help homeless people.

     Under this law, on June 22nd, 2010, President Obama announced the Opening Doors Initiative, which sought to reduce homelessness by focusing on veterans and families as well as collaboration between the Departments of VA and HDU and state and local governments. This was further bolstered on June 4th, 2014, when First Lady Michelle Obama launched the Mayors Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness. By 2016, nearly 1,000 mayors, governors, and county executives joined the challenge.

     It worked, and better than anyone could have ever imagined. The overall rate of homelessness fell by 28 percent during the Obama administration. This progress was most stark among veterans. The rate of veteran homelessness fell by 47 percent, and the rate of veterans who were homelessness and not in shelters fell by 56 percent, indicating particular success in bolstering the government response.