Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin said Friday that the department needs local communities to work with him and his agency to find affordable housing for homeless veterans.
“This president has said that he expects us to do better for our veterans. He doesn’t want homeless veterans. He wants to help these miraculous Americans who have gone and volunteered to serve the country,” Mr. Shulkin said on Fox News.
The secretary appeared with Craig Martin, a veteran, who found himself homeless in New York City after having a stroke. He said when he returned from the hospital his landlord had kicked him out, and he didn’t know where to go. A fellow veteran said to go to the VA for help.
“I was at the point to where I had given up. The VA turned around and brought me right back up,” Mr. Martin said.
Mr. Shulkin said the agency is trying to provide housing to homeless veterans throughout the U.S., but some cities have been reluctant to work with the department due in part to rent increases. He specifically named Los Angeles and Seattle as two areas where he’d like to see more cooperation from local officials.
He did say that while the VA health care scandal in 2014 gave the agency a bad image, and acknowledged that more improvement needs to be done, stories like Mr. Martin’s are more common than it may seem.
“While bad news gets covered very easily, you don’t hear these stories,” Mr. Shulkin said.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.