Call to Action: Toward Ending Female Veteran Homelessness

Abstract: The opportunity to end homelessness in our female veteran population is within our reach. Coordinated, collaborative, and visionary actions will be required. This effort will need to engage individuals, groups, and communities with a visionary new approach that focuses efforts and resources on prevention and early intervention versus the current model of reacting to homelessness once it actually occurs. We will need to leverage both the Internet and social media; develop strong peer-to-peer networks; and be more inclusive of veterans in helping us resolve female veteran homelessness. Activities related to resolving homelessness in our female veteran population will require total transparency, allowing the data to be disseminated to the public with the intent of tapping into the vast networks of problemsolvers throughout the country. Diversity in our approach to this issue will be critical as a “one size fits all” approach to public service will fail since everyone’s needs are rarely met with a single approach. We will need to connect back to government resources regularly as they will allow us to catalyze and scale solutions within the various communities throughout the land. Conducting early measurement of successes and failures is critical so limited resources are spent on those initiatives proving successful, and resources for those efforts not working can be redirected to more promising solutions. We need to stop reinforcing failure; rarely does providing more resources to initiatives that are not working lead to success. We will need to reward those demonstrating metrics-driven results with additional funding. And f inally, philanthropy will need to play a critical role to fill the gaps typically unmet by the government. They will need to provide early-stage funding to validate untested ideas and approaches; be comfortable with new models and new markets; and be prepared to engage in this effort for the long haul without becoming distracted by other issues. Pro bono support will also play a critical role in this national effort, an effort that will take time, resources, energy and a long-term commitment—a commitment we owe our female veterans.