UCHealth to fund transitional housing for veterans experiencing homelessness
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – UCHealth will be committing $30,000 to provide immediate lodging for a month to up to 10 veterans experiencing homelessness and their families.
Those 10 individuals will be selected on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at the El Paso County Stand Down, an annual event that provides assistance and support to veterans experiencing homelessness.
This is the second year UCHealth has funded the Transitional Housing Initiative (THI), a 30-day program administered by Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center.
Participants chosen for the THI will receive housing and meals at a Colorado Springs hotel. Over the course of the month, they will be connected to partner agencies that will assist them with benefit applications, finding employment and securing permanent housing, according to UCHealth.
The selected veterans will also actively work with a Mt. Carmel case manager for a year as a part of the program.
According to Mt. Carmel, eight of the nine veterans selected for last year’s THI program remain housed and are employed.
“Housing is a key component of health care, and a person’s living situation is directly tied not just to their physical health but also their mental health,” said Damian McCabe, the director of behavioral health-military affairs for UCHealth. “We are proud to partner with Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center again this year to give veterans the housing they deserve, starting immediately, at the Stand Down.”
UCHealth also is supporting Stand Down initiatives in Pueblo, Longmont and Fort Collins. In addition to administering the THI program and coordinating structured services for the veterans for a year, Mt. Carmel is also hosting this year’s Stand Down.
Stand Down events, which occur in communities across the nation, are intended to offer homeless veterans a vast array of resources ranging from food and clothing to VA benefits, counseling and substance use referrals.
In the military, “Stand Downs” enabled exhausted combat units a chance to rest and recover in a safe place during wartime. The first Stand Down for homeless veterans was held in 1988 in San Diego with the goal of offering the same rest and replenishment opportunity to veterans living on the streets.
