SOUTH TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) — Forty-eight beds at Tallahassee Veterans Village will operate under a new model beginning Oct. 1, giving homeless veterans roughly 90 days — instead of up to two years — to transition into permanent housing.
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The facility, located near Kissimmee Street and Lake Bradford Road in South Tallahassee, will shift from the VA's Grant and Per Diem program to Contract Emergency Residential Services, known as CERS. The beds themselves are not new, but the timeline veterans are expected to use them is changing significantly.
Shawn Noles, the Housing and Development Director for VOA Florida, says the compressed timeline is the most significant shift.
"Under the Grant Per Diem program, the veterans were ideally staying for a year, up to two years. This timeline now changes where they have 90 days. So once they are identified, approved, come into the program, they really have 90 days to work towards getting the next location of permanent housing," Noles said.
Noles says the Tallahassee program previously operated with 52 beds and typically ran at about 85-percent occupancy. Roughly 75 veterans moved through the program last year, with about 75-percent successfully moving toward independence in permanent supportive housing.
State data shows 557 people were counted as homeless in Leon County this year, down from 654 last year and 831 two years ago.
Leonard LeBaron Inge Jr. owns housing dedicated to veterans moving out of temporary programs. He says more local property owners are opening their doors to veterans, helping drive those numbers down and giving veterans back some of the independence they lost while homeless.
"Just having your own personal bathroom, your own kitchen, your own family room, your own yard. Like one particular veteran that made the transition from Veterans Village to one of our properties. He has service dogs. He's just so excited that his dogs have somewhere to run," he said.
I reached out to the VA for details on how the 48 Tallahassee beds will be funded and what performance requirements come with that money. A response is still pending.
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