The average home mortgage rate has nearly doubled in the last year, and the sky high housing prices — along with a shortage of homes available — have left millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet, including our nation’s veterans.

This Veterans Day, there are at least 32,000 veterans without a permanent roof over their head per the latest data from Department of Veterans Affairs, a number that has declined in recent years, but Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough still believes there's more work to be done.

“In many cities and states across the country, during the COVID pandemic, there was a moratorium on evictions, there was additional support for veterans and for other Americans who are at risk of homelessness. And so we are now just getting our hands around what that has meant for veterans across the country,” said McDonough of how the pandemic impacted the homeless veteran population.

In 2022, the department was able to permanently house more 40,000 homeless veterans with the help of local and state partners such as California Veterans Assistance Foundation, an organization in Kern County, Calif. that “focuses on transitional and permanent housing for veterans that are homeless or at risk of homelessness.”

“There's this expectation when someone's talking about homeless veterans that they're all combat veterans — that they all have PTSD, they either have substance abuse issues or mental illness — and that is not the case. The majority of them we see are honestly just extremely low-income, they do not have enough money to pay for rent and regular expenses per month,” said Deborah Johnson, the California Veterans Assistance Foundation president and CEO.

“California has between 24% and 25% of the estimated homeless population in the United States,” Johnson pointed out. “The majority of those veterans are living unsheltered, meaning they're living in a place not meant for human habitation, which is really the scariest piece of that.”

There is no one answer to the crisis facing homeless veterans, but with a Congress that has become so divided, it is a rare topic that brings both Democrats and Republicans to agreement. 

The Housing our Military Veterans Effectively or HOME Act of 2023, sponsored by Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Ore., received bipartisan support in the House Veterans Affairs committee and she’s hoping it will receive similar support on the House floor. The bill would increase funding to nonprofits that assist veterans with short-term transitional housing.

"There's a lot going on in Washington, certainly, with the changes, with working through the appropriations bills,” admitted Chavez-DeRemmer. “If we can get it to the floor, I think that hands down, it will move through, because I don't care what side of the aisle that you sit on, Republican, Democrat, veterans are important.”

Chavez-DeRemer, a freshman lawmaker, says she realized how acute the problem of homelessness was when she served as mayor of Happy Valley, Ore. from 2010 to 2018.

“As the state of Oregon, we recognize the homelessness crisis that we're experiencing, and oftentimes that affects our veterans,” said Chavez-DeRemer. “We want to keep them in our sights, always because they've served our country. And so for veterans, for me, it's a soft place in my heart.” 

Another champion for veterans rights in the House, Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., told Spectrum News he is frustrated by the lack of urgency to get the HOME Act passed.

“Since May I've been fighting to get the HOME Act to the floor of this House,” Takano said, stressing that extra funding to combat veteran homelessness has dried up. “During the pandemic we actually reduced veteran homelessness by 40%. Now organizations that are tasked with trying to get those homeless veterans off the streets before the winter sets in. As the winter is setting in now, they need more money. That money expired with the expiration of the health emergency in May.”

What everyone we spoke with on the issue stressed is that this is not just a national issue, but a hyper-local one.

“I really think before we kind of look at targeting the federal government and what they should do, we should come back to our own communities. What at a local level can we do? What — as an individual, as a person — can I do?” mused Johnson. “A simple thing that somebody in a community can do is find out if there is a provider in your area, go meet with them and talk to them. Volunteer your time, donate socks, donate hygiene items, get involved in a veteran stand down.”

Our conversation with McDonough ended with this plea from him.

“Beating homelessness requires all of us and the American people have been very generous with taxpayer dollars to make sure that we're fighting this fight. But when you're out in the street, if you run into veterans who are struggling, please give us a call and we'll go to work on their behalf.”

If you know or see a veteran that is experiencing homelessness, you can call the VA’s National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 1-877-424-3838.