We're going to get veterans housed.
Chattanooga seeks to end veteran homelessness by the year 2016 and preferably by the end of this year.
"We're going to get veterans housed," said Donna Maddox, director of Joe Johnson Mental Health Center.
Chattanooga is among 75 cities in the country participating in the Zero: 2016 initiative. Those communities are working to end veteran homelessness by the end of 2015 and chronic homelessness after that, said Aly Ainscough, improvement adviser for Community Solutions on the Zero: 2016 initiative.
Ainscough and Maddox were among representatives from nearly a dozen social service agencies participating in a two-day camp held in Chattanooga on the topic. The group met at the American Red Cross on Wednesday to report what steps members will take toward the goal and set deadlines for showing progress.
Chattanooga has housed 37 veterans in the past six months, said Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke.
Joe Johnson Mental Health director Donna Maddox answers a question on a panel during a public hearing Tuesday, July 7, 2015, at Parkridge Diagnostic Center held to provide information about a city and county mental health court planned for launch in late July. The court is being launched in response to growing concerns about how the mentally ill fare in the judicial system.
Chastity Pharr, left, with Abba's House, prays with with a homeless veteran in May at the National Guard Armory during Project Homeless Connect in Chattanooga.He said 80 homeless veterans were listed on this year's annual point-in-time count, which tries to measure homelessness throughout the city on a single day.
"No provider can do this alone. Everybody has to have a coordinated response to make a difference," Berke said.
Heather H. Cook, the city's homeless program coordinator, said she plans to schedule another meeting with the group in two weeks to follow up on commitments made.
Representatives from the Chattanooga Community Kitchen, Catholic Charities of East Tennessee and Chattanooga Housing Authority all participated in the camp.
Maddox committed to developing a list of trained counselors and volunteers to serve as peers to veterans. The peers will help veterans stay connected to the community and resources that help them find and keep housing.
Jimmy Turner, executive director of Relevant Hope, said his nonprofit is developing a centralized database where homeless people are listed by name along with their needs. Instead of waiting for homeless people to come into their organization, his group takes volunteers and resources to them, he said.
Carla Mohammed-Lawson, outreach coordinator for MASH [Mission Accomplished: Stable Housing] wants to find more resources to which the agency may refer veterans when they need financial assistance.
Near the end of the meeting, Linda Kaufman of Community Solutions stood up, wrapped in an apron with toy soldiers in the pockets. She gave a soldier to each person in the room, then commissioned them to be "fiercely committed to ending homelessness."
Kaufman talked about how she volunteered at a women's shelter while attending seminary.
She said the experience changed her life because she realized that people in the shelter were a lot like her.
Some had mental health issues. She attempted suicide while in college and had to consciously decide not to take her life every week for years after that. Some battled substance abuse. She hasn't touched alcohol since April 6, 1986, she said.
"I don't do this work because I like to help somebody else," she said. "I do this work because I am a human being and the people on the streets are so much more like me than different."
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 757-6431.