In January 2020, ODV’s Peer Assisted Transition & Healing (PATH) was established as a unified and coordinated housing and crisis resource system for veterans and their families experiencing homelessness or at imminent risk of homelessness. PATH embraces a “whole person” approach to ending homelessness by first helping people find or maintain housing with stability and then connecting them with community, other veteran’s, human, and financial resources they need to prevent future experiences of homelessness. The difference being our approach has a 90-day window. In the first 90 days, we ensure the veteran is connected to resources, all appropriate documents are in place, employment counseling begins, house hunting begins, with all the necessary resources being in one location. By providing a target date, combined with customized case management, we see a much larger success rate in veterans transitioning from street to self-reliance. 

 

A key driving factor of PATH is the understanding that homelessness is simply not the absence of a stable home. It is a result of the absence of various necessitates. Homelessness is the result of lack of resources, employment, mental health care, and a good support system.  Therefor by merely providing a place to sleep still leaves the root problem(s) unresolved.