Seattle nonprofit offers Senate ways to help homeless veterans

WASHINGTON -- Permanent housing and better monitoring are needed to help a growing number of homeless veterans, a Seattle-area advocate for the former soldiers told the Senate on Thursday.

Paul Lambros, executive director of the Plymouth Housing Group, a nonprofit group that provides low-income housing in Seattle, said some federal programs only help pay for veterans to live in transitional programs for up to two years.

A better solution, Lambros said, is for the federal government to subsidize permanent homes for homeless veterans, such as the ones Plymouth offers, with financial support from King County and charitable donations.

The federal government helps pay for up to 24 months in transitional programs, but after veterans leave those, "some of them have nowhere to go," Lambros said. "In many cases, it is better to move homeless veterans directly into permanent, supportive housing."

Federal programs providing "important services to homeless veterans ... are not flexible enough to meet real needs at the local level," Lambros said.

Lambros delivered his remarks before a joint hearing of two Senate panels investigating the problem of homeless veterans.

The Veterans Affairs Department estimates that about 200,000 veterans are homeless on any given night.

While many served in former wars -- most from Vietnam -- a growing number of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are appearing in shelters, said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.

"Our nation is struggling to meet the needs of our veterans from all conflicts," Murray told the hearing. "It is our duty to repay their sacrifice with the excellent quality of care they have earned."

Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., said the United States needs to do a better job helping veterans adjust to life outside the military.

"We owe these veterans more than a blanket and a hot meal," Bond said.

Bond called for the government to do a better job publicizing the programs and resources it offers returning soldiers.

Veterans advocates said former soldiers face major obstacles adapting to civilian life and supporting themselves.

Cheryl Beversdorf, president of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, told the hearing that many returning soldiers have physical and mental problems -- from traumatic brain injury to post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse.

Many vets also have trouble finding jobs that take advantage of the skills they acquired in the military, Beversdorf said.

Seattle's Lambros suggested that Congress should expand a transition program for veterans so that it would help pay for long-term housing, too, instead of limiting veterans' stays to two years.

Lambros said the Seattle program has stepped in to provide long-term housing for more than 100 veterans.

In a newly opened apartment building in downtown Seattle, called the Langdon and Anne Simons Senior Apartments, there are 25 spaces for homeless veterans. There, the group works with local representatives of the Veterans Administration to help support the residents with counseling and ensure they are getting medical care.

Once veterans are in a stable home, it is easier to treat those who abuse alcohol or other drugs, and who might otherwise be kicked out of shelters for violating rules against intoxication, Lambros said.