The number of homeless veterans in New York has declined by 83% over the last 12 years following an increase in federal funding to expand housing subsidies for service members, according to an analysis by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released Wednesday. One organization is offering a residential community for transitional, supportive and independent living.

Veteran homelessness has faced America for decades.

“Homelessness continues to be an issue that we all have to be aware of and we all have to be willing to, I think, try to rectify,” said the Executive Director of Veterans Outreach Center Laura Heltz.

The Veterans Outreach Center has found the vast majority of those in service experience various degrees of homelessness.

“Some people may be coming in off the street,” Heltz said. “Some people may be coming in from jail or from an in-patient rehab clinic or something and have nowhere else to go.”

Providing a homeless shelter for veterans called ‘Richard’s House,’ organizers say the house provides a special community for veterans who may be struggling with mental illness, addiction or loneliness.

“I struggled a lot with working a regular job,” U.S. Navy gas turbine mechanic Carlos Ortiz said. “I struggled with my sleeping patterns. I struggled with alcoholism, which led into other addictions.”

Ortiz had served in the U.S. Navy for over three years. Developing a drinking problem after deployment, Ortiz said it helped him cope with stress and the lifestyle.

“I actually got stranded in Rochester, you know, because of my alcohol problem, I ended up missing a flight out and lost my job,” Ortiz said. “My life was unmanageable. I really didn't know what I was going to do because I went from being responsible for multimillion-dollar equipment and traveling the world, straight into civilian life.”

Finding ‘Richard's House’ through the Villa of Hope, Ortiz says the opportunity has changed his life.

“Being around a bunch of other people that are going through the same thing you are,” Ortiz said. “It builds up your confidence. Because a lot of times I think when we leave the service, we just don't have time to process anything that happened.”

Ortiz says the center has allowed him to express himself emotionally and artistically.

“Getting back into painting in my art gave me something to focus on when I wasn't doing school or when I wasn't working,” Ortiz said. “But it gave me something that I could focus on and is pretty much like a meditation for me.”

Spending four months at ‘Richard’s House,’ Ortiz is preparing to reconnect with his family in Florida. He has landed a job in fine dining, and working on starting up his own construction business.

Gaining confidence in himself and his ability, Ortiz hopes other veterans seek the same help he once did.

“I was too distracted to focus on anything, to build anything that I can maintain,” Ortiz said. “But now I feel very confident in my ability to grow something and be consistent with it and stay sober.”