Four members of San Diego’s Congressional delegation are asking the local Veterans Affairs office to issue more housing vouchers amid a rise in homelessness among people who served in the military.
The request comes after The San Diego Union-Tribune published data showing that hundreds of vouchers failed to reach those who needed them in recent years.
We “must ensure that no vouchers go unused,” wrote U.S. Democratic Reps. Scott Peters, Juan Vargas, Mike Levin and Sara Jacobs.
Their letter was sent Wednesday to Frank Pearson, director and CEO of the VA San Diego Healthcare System.
In an emailed statement, an agency spokesperson said they were addressing the problem from multiple angles, including boosting outreach through a partnership with the nonprofit People Assisting The Homeless.
“VA San Diego is here to support Veterans whether they are currently unhoused or at risk,” wrote Scott Gomer, and he again called on landlords to step up.
The Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, known as VASH, helps cover rent and has been credited with significantly reducing veteran homelessness nationwide.
Yet that lifeline has not been fully utilized as the number of people on local streets ticked up.
Around 40 percent of San Diego County’s VASH vouchers went unused last year, data show. This year, the county had access to nearly 950 vouchers, but there were never more than 613 households in the program as of late September.
Local officials previously cited a number of bottlenecks in the system, including the region’s tough rental market.
The letter asked how many veterans have applied for, but not yet received, a voucher and for the average amount of time it takes someone to find housing after being accepted by the program, among other questions.
“We are doing everything possible to remove the barriers,” County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer said in a statement.
The Union-Tribune story also featured Tracy Vaughan, a U.S. Army veteran who received a voucher early last month.
While she was excited to search for a place, Vaughan was concerned her background might make landlords balk.
About two decades ago, Vaughan said she was repeatedly raped by fellow soldiers, a trauma that led to alcoholism, methamphetamine use, arrests and homelessness.
She was living in a Veterans Village of San Diego facility, but hoped for an apartment in Eastlake, a neighborhood in Chula Vista.
After many phone calls, Vaughan got good news.
An apartment was open. In Eastlake. She moved in Monday.
“I’m so grateful,” Vaughan wrote Wednesday in a text message, and “proud of myself.”
