Every night, veterans wander the streets of Indiana’s cities and towns looking for a place to sleep or a hot meal. The Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention (CHIP) reports over 3,600 homeless persons in the Greater Indianapolis Metropolitan Area on any given night. Of that figure, approximately 900 (25%) are honorably discharged veterans. Nightly, there are over 200,000 homeless veterans nationally, and 500,000 experience homelessness over the course of a year. Sadly, these veterans who are now homeless are the same veterans who served our country with courage, self-sacrifice, honor, dignity, and pride in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the first Gulf War, Afghanistan, Iraq and the current war on terrorism. These veterans are America’s forgotten heroes. They fought for our freedom on the battlefield, and now they and their families fight daily for their survival on America’s streets.

No veteran should ever be homeless!

Without HVAF’s supportive housing units, programs and services, the number of Indiana’s homeless and near-homeless veterans would increase to critical proportions, creating delays for those veterans in need of HVAF’s preventive services, intervention programs and emergency services, supportive housing, intensive care treatment and counseling.

Our Case in Brief

One out of every three homeless males sleeping in a doorway, alley or box is an honorably discharged veteran.

While homeless veterans make up 25 percent of the overall homeless population, they make up more than 35 percent of the chronically homeless; this according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV). The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reports that veterans are considered at risk for homelessness because of poverty, lack of support from family or friends, substance abuse, mental health issues and precarious living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing.  These homeless veterans have many obstacles to face. Forty-five percent suffer from mental illness, and with considerable overlap, more than 68 percent have alcohol and/or substance abuse problems. Homeless veterans also suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which can produce flashbacks, nightmares, and intrusive thoughts that disrupt work and home life.

Indiana Needs HVAF

HVAF is a one-of-a-kind organization in the State of Indiana and one of only a few in the country.

HVAF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating homelessness for veterans and their families through prevention, education, supportive services, and advocacy.  Incorporated in 1993 as the Indiana Chapter of the Far From Home Foundation, Inc., HVAF completed its first housing project in 1996, establishing a supportive housing unit for five homeless veterans in Indianapolis.  In 1998, the Indiana Chapter became Hoosier Veterans Assistance Foundation (HVAF). In 2006, we continue our mission to provide these services, but we do so under a slightly different name. We have retained the acronym and logo, but have changed our name to HVAF of Indiana, Inc. to address a broader variety of veteran needs. The acronym now stands for Helping Homeless Veterans and Families.

Since 1993, HVAF has helped thousands of veterans break the cycle of homelessness, and in 2001, HVAF was designated in Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson’s Blueprint to End Homelessness as the principal coordinator for programs and services for homeless and near homeless veterans and their families. This identification has enabled additional collaboration, resources, and partnerships as the need for our housing program and the critical services we provides continue to increase. Our programs are designed to assist veterans and their families, although we assist any homeless person who comes through our doors. HVAF works with the Veterans Administration (VA) to provide a full range of services to homeless veterans. HVAF and the VA’s Homeless Outreach Team are co-located, working together to bring homeless veterans from the streets to safe, secure homes. The VA provides most medical services, while HVAF provides intensive care, case management, supportive services and housing. HVAF operates a nationally recognized Continuum of Care program which provides a substance abuse treatment program and mental health program that is exportable to the HVAF homes to further facilitate and ensure long term compliance.

Program Overviews

Veterans Service Center (VSC)

Located at 3602 E. Michigan Street, Indianapolis, the VSC provides food, shelter, clothing, furniture, transportation, personal hygiene items, benefits/family counseling, legal/medical referrals, mental health assessments and case management to homeless and near homeless veterans.

Outreach

HVAF provides daily outreach to homeless and near homeless veterans. We have three peer outreach workers who visit homeless shelters throughout Indianapolis, as well as other areas of the city where homeless veterans are found and provides emergency clothing and food to these homeless veterans along with referrals to housing, and appropriate agencies for financial benefit information, medical and psychological care, employment assistance and other services as needed.

REST Program

The 22-bed REST Program, an acronym for Residential Employment and Substance Abuse Treatment program, is the primary point of entry into the HVAF Continuum of Care program. This program is highly effective program and produces positive results in moving homeless veterans with substance abuse, mental health issues or both, to clean and sober veterans; from homelessness to employment and permanent housing. A comprehensive substance abuse treatment and support program for homeless veterans, the REST program began in December 2001 and provides intensive, long-term, coordinated, and wrap-around services that address the mind, body and spirit of homeless veterans with substance abuse and mental health issues. This program is unique to the City of Indianapolis and is highly effective.

Freedom Center

The Freedom Center features an emergency/drop-in shelter with a 20-bed capacity for homeless veterans coming directly from the street. It provides a clean, safe and secure environment for veterans to assess their situation and decide which of HVAF’s treatment programs are suitable for their recovery.

VISTA Center

The VISTA (Veterans Integrated Services for Training and Achievement) Center is a 40-bed supportive housing and drop-in center consisting of six houses. The Center is unique in that it offers services to homeless veterans suffering from substance abuse. Typically, shelters turn away those individuals who have recently used drugs or alcohol. Before the inception of the VISTA Center, a police officer involved with a homeless veteran with substance abuse issues on the street, had few options other than jail. Incarceration gave the homeless veteran a police record, which made it more difficult to seek employment. Now veterans can be taken to the Center, where they have warm meals and a safe and secure environment with professionals to help them get their lives back together.

Scattered-Site Housing

To enter the HVAF’s supportive structured housing program, a veteran must be homeless or near-homeless and be able to provide verification that he or she is a veteran. This verification can be completed with a copy of the veteran’s DD-214. The veteran then applies for housing and meets with a VAMC Homeless Outreach Team Case Manager. The team provides immediate housing until the veteran is ready to move into one of the HVAF homes.  

Our Mission - HVAF is dedicated to eliminating homelessness for veterans and their families through prevention, education, supportive services and advocacy.

Our Vision – Provide homeless and near-homeless veterans with the assistance necessary to ensure successful, independent living.

Why HVAF?

Prevention

Many veterans are considered at risk for homelessness because of poverty, lack of support from family and friends, and precarious living conditions in overcrowded or substandard housing. HVAF provides a vital link between veteran services organizations and direct care providers like the VAMC. This collaborative partnership with the VA is innovative in that HVAF augments the efforts of the VA by providing those recognized and required services that are not readily available through the VA system.

Education

Homelessness in the United States endures as a significant and critical problem despite Federal, State and local initiatives. Approximately 637,000 adults in the United States are homeless on any given night, with 2.1 million people experiencing at least one episode of homelessness over the period of a year. Characteristically, people who cycle in and out of homelessness or are homeless for long periods tend to have disabling health and behavioral health problems as well as a combination of mental health and substance-abuse problems. The symptoms resulting from these problems also increase vulnerability to homelessness. As a result, without appropriate support and services, people with mental and health illnesses may exhibit behavior that threatens housing stability and leads to eviction.

Supportive Services

HVAF supports the homeless veteran with supportive housing. These are not shelters, but actual homes around the city that house homeless vets for up to two years while they comply with their substance abuse and or mental health treatment plan, learn additional work and life skills, job training and placement, education and seek employment opportunities.  

Advocacy

Many research studies of homeless populations reveal that veterans are an over-represented group in comparison to the general population. That any of our nation’s veterans find themselves homeless is particularly tragic and ironic to many Americans;  tragic, as veterans have a special place in the social fabric of our country and thus attract much public sympathy and ironic, as veterans receive a broad range of special benefits, including educational assistance, home loans, pensions, and disability payments and healthcare. All of these benefits should place veterans at a lower risk for homelessness than other Americans. Nonetheless, these benefits are not sufficient in themselves to help the homeless, particularly those with PTSD.

HVAF Needs Your Help More Than Ever!

Research  suggests more than 35% of current war veterans will develop PTSD

The accounts of more than 300,000 soldiers and Marines returning from recent conflicts paint an unusually detailed picture of the psychological impact of the various conflicts.  Those returning from Iraq consistently reported more psychiatric distress than those returning from Afghanistan and other engagements, such as those in Bosnia or Kosovo. Nearly twice as many of those returning from Iraq reported having mental health issues—or were hospitalized for a psychiatric disorder—compared with those returning from Afghanistan. This study has found that Iraq veterans have mental disorders diagnosed at the rate of 12 percent per year. Researchers have found that nearly two-thirds of Iraq veterans who “screened positive” for PTSD and other psychiatric disorders are not receiving treatment.

How You Can Help

There are many opportunities to improve and expand the services available to help homeless veterans, either as individuals or as members of a group or organization.  You can focus your efforts on supporting HVAF, or become an active advocate to make sure veterans receive an appropriate share of the resources that are available to address and prevent homelessness in your area. Your donations to HVAF are tax-deductible.

Please Give HVAF Your Support!

What can you do?  You can volunteer and you can donate!

* Make a monetary contribution

* Donate personal care items, clothing, and food

* Help raise funds for specific HVAF programs

* Volunteer at HVAF events

Your gifts to HVAF matter more than you might think. Your financial support will:

* Help defray the expenses for one of our houses, which includes food, utilities, and maintenance

* Enable more veterans to complete our REST program

* Help pay for case managers who assist veterans in developing the skills necessary to cope within the community

* Demonstrate a visible and tangible commitment to those who serve to protect our rights and freedom

* Perhaps even help someone you know

To arrange for a pick up to donate non-perishable food items, household supplies, or new or used furniture, appliances, and/or clothing, please call (317) 951-0688. To deliver your donations, visit us at 3602 E. Michigan Street, Suite B, Indianapolis, IN  46201. Donations are accepted Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.