Grass-Roots Group Has Housed 2,400+ Homeless Veterans Nationwide, Now Including in Alabama
Press Release – Toledo, OH – Having already housed more than 2,400 homeless veterans around the nation, Toledo-based Veterans Matter, a national grass-roots organization that partners with the VA’s Homeless Veterans program to move homeless veterans into long-term housing, announced today that it has officially begun housing veterans in Alabama.
“A VA social worker in Birmingham called us on the verge of tears. One of her veterans was going to sleep on the streets, in the rain, again simply because he didn’t have the $150 deposit he needed to move into temporary housing,” said Ken Leslie, Veterans Matter Founder and Advocate in Chief. “Thanks to our incredible team and to the support of our countless allies and advocates, we were able to help move that veteran into stable, permanent HUD-VA housing that night. The stories like this one are what keep driving us forward, and we’re extremely thankful to be in a position to continue helping move the brave veterans on our streets into a home of their own.”
Veterans Matter has created an innovative, cloud-based, rapid-response system that partners with the VA’s Homeless Veterans program to identify homeless veterans in need and eliminate the customary barrier of a security deposit in minutes, as opposed to the typical period of 30 to 60 days. A growing national collaborative funding network of veterans’ service organizations, businesses, foundations, individuals, musicians, and celebrities provides the donations needed to fund the organization’s efforts.
“We are officially active in Alabama, the 20th state in which we’ve opened operations. With our entrance into the state, we ask all who feel called to our cause to rally together to help raise the awareness and the funds needed to move as many homeless veterans as possible off of Alabama’s streets and into the housing they deserve,” said Ken.
According to information compiled by HUD, there were 269 homeless veterans in Alabama at the beginning of 2017. Veterans Matter hopes to bring this number down to zero, with the help of the organization’s advocates and allies around the state.
Underscoring the importance of ending veteran homelessness, more than 20 actors, musicians, authors, and singers have stepped forward as allies of Veterans Matter. High profile celebrities including Dusty Hill, John Mellencamp, Katy Perry, Kid Rock, Stevie Nicks, Susan Sarandon, Mario Lopez, Darius Rucker, Jennifer Nettles, and more, have allied their support by raising money or creating video PSAs to help raise awareness and encourage donations to be made through Veterans Matter. Celebrity videos can be found here.
For more information about Veterans Matter, please visit: https://veteransmatter.org/about/.
Facebook: Facebook.com/Veteransmatter
Twitter: Twitter.com/Veteransmatter
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