Helping a Homeless Veteran Only a Phone Call Away

VA’s Homeless Veterans Program Office is on a mission to ensure that everyone from VA employees, to first responders and civilian personnel know who and where to call should they encounter a homeless Veteran or a Veteran at-risk of becoming homeless. A major homeless outreach and awareness campaign is under way in 28 cities across the nation as part of VA’s commitment to eliminate Veteran homelessness by 2015. The initial phase of the massive outreach effort is designed to inform and educate those in frequent contact with homeless Veterans have them serve as messengers bhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gify directing Veterans to three primary channels: the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans (1-877-424-3838); the VA Homeless Veterans Website at http://www.va.gov/HOMELESS/ ;and local VA medical centers. These major events will include brochures and other information as well as advertising posters at bus stops and radio and TV ads to promote “Make the call.”

New Telephone Service: Coaching into Care

When a Veteran comes home, or their military service comes to an end, their support shifts from military comrades and superiors to family members and close friends. Frequently it is friends and family who are first to notice their Veteran having a tough time adjusting. If you haven’t served in the military yourself, it can be hard to know how to help–what to say, how to reach out.

VA has several programs that help family members provide support to their Veterans, like Caregiver Support, counseling at your local Vet Center, and an initiative that got started earlier this year: Coaching into Care.

Coaching into Care is a telephone service that provides assistance to family members and friends trying to encourage their Veteran to seek health care for possible readjustment and mental health issues. It’s a national phone service that places priority to linking Veterans with benefits and services available in their own communities.

Secretary Shinseki pointed out that

“Family members and friends may not know what to say to encourage their Veterans to seek much needed readjustment and health care. The Coaching into Care line will help them find the right words.”

If you think your Veteran friend or family member is having a difficult time and could benefit from readjustment counseling or mental health care, please utilize the Coaching into Care service: call 1-888-823-7458 or email CoachingIntoCare@va.gov .