New Orleans Becomes The First City In The U.S. To House All Homeless Veterans

BlutarskyTFM11 years ago

There’s a lot to like about New Orleans. The food is good, there’s always live music, and the entire city is essentially a big party. Now, aside from Mardi Gras and some kick-ass crawfish étouffée, there’s a new reason to be a fan of the Big Easy. As of Jan. 2, all known homeless veterans in New Orleans have found housing, making the city the first in the United States to completely end veteran homelessness.

As part of a campaign pushed by First Lady Michelle Obama, cities across the nation have been participating in the Mayor’s Challenge to End Veteran Homelessness, which is a pact to house all homeless veterans by the end of 2015. New Orleans’s mayor, Mitch Landrieu, in what I like to think was an intentional move of competitive prowess, one-upped the rest of the competition earlier this month when the last homeless veteran in New Orleans moved into his new apartment.

In conjunction with UNITY of Greater New Orleans, the City of New Orleans, and 60 other government agencies and nonprofit organizations, the formerly homeless veterans in the city now live in a renovated apartment complex redesigned specifically for this noble undertaking.

Homelessness, especially among veterans, is a huge problem in this country. Fortunately, cities like New Orleans and numerous others across the nation are taking a stand and making progress in finding homes for those who have served. If you didn’t like New Orleans before, you probably should now..

[via The CS Monitor]

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