Progress Towards Ending Veteran Homelessness

MACV Chief Program Officer Nathaniel Saltz presented MACV’s mission and updates to the Minnesota House Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy Committee. Standing before the Committee on Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy, Saltz provided insight into the methods and successes of MACV’s effort to end Veteran homelessness in Minnesota.

We pursue our mission in cooperation with local, state, and federal organizations who partner in our work in supportive housing, housing subsidies, and holistic case management. This collaboration has led to effective State investments for supportive housing acquisition, and vouchers, that have Minnesota on a track to end Veteran homelessness by the end of 2025.

As we edge nearer to this goal, MACV is already reflecting on how to keep ahead of the curve and push forward to address the evolving needs of Minnesota’s Veterans as this increased state investment approaches its end.

Some of MACV’s most notable achievements from 2023 include:

• Preventing over 1,200 Veterans from becoming homeless. 
• Ending periods of homelessness for close to 500 Veterans. 
• Providing housing at MACV properties to 175 Veterans. 

We are optimistic that we are on track to achieve a functional end to Veteran homelessness in Minnesota over the next two years. Eight of Minnesota’s 10 homeless Continuum of Care (CoC) regions have met these benchmarks and we are closing in on Hennepin County and anticipate reaching this milestone in 2024, and then Ramsey in 2025. 

Critical Support 

MACV receives critical financial support from the State of Minnesota each year to pursue our goal. Our funding includes: 

• Developing supportive housing through Veterans Stable Housing Opportunities (VSHO).
• Long-term housing vouchers (Minnesota Veterans Entering Stable Tenancy – MNVEST).
• Outreach and case management (Opening Veterans to Every Resource, Operation: OVER).
• We leverage the MDVA Emergency hotel shelter funding (Veterans Temporary Housing – VTEMP).
• Legislatively appropriated funds for direct financial assistance, which stabilizes Veterans in housing through payments for rent, security deposits, utilities, and other key needs, a critical resource for preventing Veteran homelessness.  

However, the relationship between MACV and the State is so much more than financial. The degree of partnership and coordination between MACV and the State of Minnesota has drawn national attention as a best practice in cross-sector relationships.

MACV operates 225 beds of transitional and permanent supportive housing units statewide, including units still in the process of construction and rehab. MACV acquired 85 of those units with VSHO funds in the past two years, which have been a tremendous support in developing housing geared towards serving veterans with the fewest private landlord options for housing.

MACV has already started to consider what Minnesota Veterans need to ensure their long-term housing stability in 2025 and beyond. As stated, one of the most important tools at our disposal for the progress made, MNVEST, is set to have its first award period end as the State makes its final push to achieve Functional Zero next year.

MACV will continue to communicate our needs and findings in connection to the future of MNVEST and VSHO to MDVA as well as to this body as we approach the end of the grant terms.

MACV utilizes numerous tools to track progress made toward achieving our mission. Minnesota’s Homeless Veteran Registry (HVR), operated by MDVA, allows MACV and our partners to keep count of the veterans experiencing homelessness and share other key pieces of information we need to effectively reach and serve these individuals. As a co-leader of the HVR collaborative, MACV was a service partner for approximately 89% of the veterans housed from the Registry in 2023. As of February 20, 2024, there were 246 Veterans on the HVR.

In addition to being a critical source of data, inter-agency program staff from MACV, MDVA, local community partners, and federal VAMC homeless programs discuss each veteran on the list at bi-weekly meetings to ensure that plans for the Veteran’s housing stability are in place and being followed. The collaborative identifies one of the most common barriers to housing stability as an acute shortage of affordable rental housing units. Along with low income, many Veterans on the Registry have other barriers that result in the denial of rental applications even if they locate a unit within their income range.

VSHO funds have allowed MACV to create housing to address the lack of suitable units to meet our veterans’ needs. However, maintaining residents’ stability for the long-term requires us to meet an increasing need for onsite and clinical services, particularly for aging and medically unstable Veterans with low incomes. MACV continues engaging with our government partners to ensure that Veterans can access the services needed for their long-term stability.

Thank you for your support of Minnesota Veterans, and the opportunity to work together to ensure the continuity of the effort that we have begun to end Veteran homelessness in Minnesota.