As most of you know, Ed Harmon’s Veterans Emergency Temporary Shelters provide a comfortable place to sleep while waiting for appropriate shelters or other housing. Maine Veterans In Need, the organization I co-founded six years ago, provides immediate, short-term hotels, for those found living on the street. But we are part of a much bigger statewide effort dealing with homelessness. This week I would like to focus on how Maine is addressing this issue.

When I first became involved about 15 years ago, there were already numerous federal and state funded organizations dedicated to helping homeless veterans. While these groups were doing good work, coordination between them was often limited.

In April 2017, the MBVS authored “The Maine Plan to End and Prevent Veterans’ Homelessness.” That effort, in collaboration with the VA and HUD, led to the creation of a statewide coordination structure bringing together the many organizations involved. One of the biggest challenges identified at the time was the lack of a unified way to track and manage the homeless across agencies.

To address this, Maine adopted the Federal Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). HMIS allows service providers, shelters, and outreach teams to share data and track individuals experiencing homelessness, including veterans. In Maine, it is administered through the state’s Homeless Veterans Action Committee, the action committee within Maine Continuum of Care.

From my own observations, before HMIS was fully implemented, the number of identified homeless veterans on any given day was around 120, with about 13 unsheltered. Today, while we recognize there are still veterans who remain off the grid, the number being actively tracked is closer to 150, with approximately 30 unsheltered. Some experts estimate the total may be closer to 170.

What stands out most is the level of coordination now in place. Representatives from across the network meet twice a week via “Teams/ZOOM” to review each case. Caseworkers provide updates, discuss available housing opportunities, and work collaboratively to match veterans with shelter and permanent housing options.

Our own Maine V.E.T.S. team participates in these meetings, and I attend as a representative of MVN. It is encouraging to see that there are consistently some housing options available, and that caseworkers actively work to connect veterans with those opportunities.

I continue to be impressed by the dedication and urgency shown by those involved. Their shared goal is clear: to ensure that every veteran has safe, stable housing, and that no veteran in Maine is left sleeping in a tent or a car.

A new initiative is taking place this year. Representatives of the VA, state, and many of the organizations involved with helping homeless veterans will be meeting nine times in locations around the state. They will then reach out to those homeless veterans that have been identified to be sure they are getting the services they have earned; and find those veterans who have previously not been identified.

This is an ongoing effort, and one our community should be aware of and support.