California has had a large increase of veterans who are not only homeless but are also unsheltered. Homelessness in itself is associated with multiple threats to physical and mental health, but unsheltered settings, including streets, parks, abandoned buildings, riverbeds, freeway underpasses, etc. that are “unfit for habitation”, constitute even graver threats.
The largest number of individuals experiencing homelessness in the country reside in California; there are nearly 100,000 more people here than in New York, the state with the next largest number. The trend for the nation and our state is moving in the right direction; the number of veterans experiencing homelessness decreased nationally from 37,252 in 2020 to 33,129 in 2022, an 11% reduction; the number in California decreased from 11,401 to 10,395, a 9% decrease. Nationally, about 41% of veterans experiencing homelessness are unsheltered; in California, about 71% are unsheltered.
We operate over 2,500 units of stabilization, transitional and permanent housing
- Roughly 1/3 of the nation’s homeless veterans are in California.
- REASON TO CHEER! 9% fewer homeless veterans (2020-2022)
- VHHP has helped produce 5,665 affordable units since 2014