The State of Minnesota, Governor Dayton, and the Mayors of Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Rochester, Duluth, St. Cloud, Burnsville and Albert Lea have joined the Federal government and over 200 other communities across the country in committing to end Veteran homelessness by the end of 2015.

Five weeks ago, I joined the team within State government charged with helping us deliver on these commitments, as Special Advisor on Ending Veteran Homelessness based at MDVA with the Minnesota Office to Prevent and End Homelessness. I come to this role after serving as Policy Director for the U. S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), the Federal agency charged with coordinating the Federal response on homelessness and working in partnership with communities across the country to prevent and end homelessness. In my previous role, I served as USICH's liaison with the Department of Veteran Affairs and as policy lead on efforts to end homelessness among Veterans and youth. I am delighted to bring the perspectives and experiences of my time in Washington back to my home state, and to join dedicated people at MDVA, throughout government, and in nonprofit organizations and communities across the state focused on ending Veteran homelessness.

What does it mean to end Veteran homelessness? During the last annual Point-in-Time count - which identifies the number of people experiencing homelessness in every community across the country - Minnesota identified 317 Veterans experiencing homelessness. Nearly half of those Veterans qualify as chronically homeless, meaning that they have spent a year or more (often much more) homeless, or have had four or more episodes of homelessness within the previous three years. Ending Veteran homelessness means that we have engaged every single one of those Veterans to create a path from homelessness to housing. But it also means that we have a system in place in every community so that going forward, housing crises are identified early, that we prevent housing crises from leading to homelessness, and that when homelessness does occur, we quickly intervene so that Veterans and their families are on a swift path back into stable housing.

Our progress to date shows that we can do this. Since 2010, Veteran homelessness in America has dropped by 33 percent. In Minnesota, Veteran homelessness is down by 47 percent since 2010.

The progress is encouraging, but we have more work to do. Achieving the goal requires that we adjust our tactics in some important ways. Today, we have a count of how many Veterans experience homelessness, but we don't know who these Veterans are, where they are, or what the need. Our first step is to ensure that we know every single Veteran by name, we know what they and their families need, and make sure that our community resources work together to solve their homelessness. I am happy to say that we are already making important progress in this direction.

Together, ending Veteran homelessness is possible. Because we can end Veteran homelessness, we must. I'm proud to be from a state that will not rest until we have done so.

Eric I. Grumdahl serves as Special Advisor on Ending Veteran Homelessness for the Minnesota Office to Prevent and End Homelessness and lives in Minneapolis with his family. The State's plan to end homelessness is online: http://www.headinghomeminnesota.org/our-plan. Eric can be reached at eric.grumdahl@state.mn.us and 651-201-8230.