Agency That Provides Housing For Veterans Reports Busy 2015

Officials from a Wisconsin nonprofit that helps homeless veterans say it has been a busy year.

The Milwaukee Homeless Veterans Initiative serves much of eastern Wisconsin by helping vets who are moving into permanent or transitional housing, or in emergency need of food.

Initiative Executive Director Kirsten Sobieski said this year her group has helped more than 330 vets move into homes — an increase from last year.

Sobieski said many other vets are still homeless, or at least not in a permanent location.

“We are also trying to get the word out to vets who are couch-hopping or going from family to family or friend to friend,” she said. “That’s not stable housing, but also doesn’t fall under definition of homelessness according to the (Department of Veterans Affairs) and (Department of Housing & Urban Development).”

Sobieski said many other vets haven’t been homeless, but are only one change in circumstance away from it.