U.S. Veterans Initiative opens transitional housing

After more than 10 years of preparation and planning, the United States Veterans Initiative opened the doors of its brand new transitional housing facility to the public for the first time on Oct. 24. Preceding the long-anticipated ribbon cutting ceremony, community members toured the new building.

The property, which is nestled in the heart of a quaint southeast Washington, D.C., neighborhood, is the 11th U.S. Vets facility in the nation.

The success of the project was the result of tireless effort, said Stephen Peck, U.S. Vets' chief executive officer and president. The project was delayed due to the deterioration of the building, causing funding problems centered around the properties structural issues. Peck said the whole U.S. Vets team is dedicated to the organization's mission of helping veterans and will do all that is necessary to help end veteran homelessness.

“We will never leave a veteran behind,” he said. “No veteran should have to sleep in the streets – the same streets they fought to defend.”

After the ceremony, those in attendance toured the facility and met the new executive director, Clifton Lewis.

“I’m elated to assume my new position,” Lewis said. “I had to put in a lot of hard work to get here. I know there is a lot of work ahead of me and I look forward to the challenge.”

As the new director, Lewis will oversee five resident programs. The programs vary from assisting veterans transitioning to successful self-sufficient lifestyles in permanent housing to providing assistance such as moving expenses to veteran families. But it doesn’t stop there. The veterans that walk through their doors will be offered a variety of services that they can use to better themselves and reintegrate back into the local communities.

“Oftentimes, communities shy away from having homeless veterans there because of stigmas related to homelessness,” Lewis said. “U.S. Vets partnered with the Department of Labor and the Veterans Administration who provided funding for programs to create job placement and career development programs to get our veterans where they want to be.”

Lewis also noted that the success of the new facility relies heavily upon the relationships U.S. Vets fostered with other organizations including the American Legion.

To date, U.S. Vets lends a helping hand to more than 2,000 veterans a day. Over 3,000 veterans receive housing assistance a year and approximately 1,000 veterans gain full-time employment through employment assistance programs.

“The goal is to eliminate veteran homelessness,” Lewis said. “We want to ensure that veterans will always have a place to come back to. Our vet centers are a place veterans can always come to if they need help or assistance.”