Happy New Year! A new year, a new decade and a renewed commitment to serving Minnesota Veterans and their families and ensuring they receive the benefits they have earned. 

It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since I began my role as Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA). As I reflected in last month’s blog, we have accomplished so much in the last year and are proud of the work we have done, much of it collaboratively with varied stakeholders and Veterans Service Organizations. 

MDVA works closely with the Governor’s Office to support the Walz Administration One Minnesota Plan and align our own priorities with that overarching plan. During the last week, Governor Walz and Lt. Governor Flanagan rolled out the “Local Jobs and Projects Plan” that proposes State Bond investments in five key areas:

• Safe and Affordable Housing
• Water Quality and Infrastructure
• Higher Education
• Public Safety and Asset Preservation
• Quality of Life

I was pleased to join the Governor and Lt. Governor at a press conference on January 9 at Minnehaha Commons, a housing development by Alliance Housing for adults age 55+ who have experienced homelessness. Alliance is renting 25 percent of the units here to Veterans; resulting in 11 Veterans now calling Minnehaha Commons home.

This is just one of the positive steps forward in our ongoing work toward effectively ending Veteran homelessness. I am pleased to report that through the efforts of our collaborative workgroup, we placed 503 formerly homeless Veterans in permanent, safe and secure housing in 2019. That is the highest annual number since this initiative began in 2014 and almost 200 more than we placed in 2018. And in December 2019 alone, we placed 61 Veterans. Our goal remains to become the fourth state in the country to end Veteran homelessness. With the support of property developers and landlords like Alliance Housing, we are optimistic that this goal is within reach. 

We thank all our public and private partners for their collaboration on this important work:

• Minnesota Housing
• Minnesota Department of Human Services
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs/Minneapolis VA Healthcare System
• Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV)
• Housing Link
• Metropolitan Council
• Minneapolis Public Housing Authority
• St. Paul Public Housing Agency
• Ten Minnesota Continuums of Care focused on Veteran homelessness in their communities

Ending Veteran homelessness is also among MDVA’s priority projects for 2020. Through a strategic planning process, we have identified four Strategic Goal areas:

• Ensure a seamless continuum of support that addresses the evolving needs of Veterans
• Increase Veteran awareness and participation
• Be exemplary stewards of resources
• Develop, sustain and retain the quality of our workforce

You will hear much more about our progress in these four areas in the coming months.

These four goals include a number of projects and initiatives including:

• Veteran Homelessness: We will be continuing our collaborative effort with public and private partners and are grateful for new housing available at St. Paul’s Dorothy Day Place. (See related article in this issue of Minnesota Veteran.)
• Veteran Suicide: MDVA is adding resources to this area with a new Veteran Suicide Program Coordinator position; the team will develop and execute a community partnership/collaborative approach. 
• New Veterans Homes: MDVA has all plans in place to proceed once we learn of the Federal funding decision. 
• Sustainability: To improve our efforts, we are adding electric vehicle charging stations at facilities and converting our fleet to plug-in vehicles.
• Restorative Justice: We look forward to passing this legislation in the 2020 Legislative session and appreciate the support of Gov. Walz on this issue.

Please know that MDVA is here for all Veterans and their families. Contact us via our website at MinnesotaVeteran.org, call 1-888-LinkVet, email or chat online, or visit with your County Veterans Service Office.

And as always, thank you for your service!