In San Antonio, Haven for Hope is working to help homeless veterans get back on their feet as part of its trademark “one-stop-shop” approach to homeless services.
Haven for Hope offers a variety of services to veteran clients in addition to the emergency housing assistance, income and skills development, and case management services offered to every unhoused person looking to transform their life at the nonprofit’s main campus.
The organization has a dedicated veteran services team that works to connect veterans with the services best tailored to their individual needs.
Haven for Hope Communications Director Terri Behling told The Dallas Express that the organization also provides on-site Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare for homeless veterans and works with veterans to connect them with other VA-associated programs like disability benefits and pensions.
“Currently, we have 78 self-reported Veterans at Haven. We average around 100 at any given time,” she said in an emailed statement. “[From] October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2023, we served 389 veteran clients.”
Haven for Hope helps not only veterans but all homeless people and former vagrants who are willing to work to get themselves off the street and become participating members of society.
The nonprofit’s 22-acre site in San Antonio is home to a “Transformational Campus” where case managers work one-on-one with clients to determine a path forward, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Unlike other homeless service providers, Haven for Hope offers housing in conjunction with counseling, job training, educational programming, and a host of other services at the same location. The “one-stop-shop” strategy has been credited with reducing San Antonio homelessness by 77% and has polled favorably among Dallas voters.
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson recently visited Haven for Hope, but it remains to be seen whether the City of Dallas will consider similar policies. Meanwhile, 75% of residents say homelessness and vagrancy continue to be “major” problems throughout the City.