It’s clear to Sally Hammitt, interim deputy director of the VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System, that there’s strength in numbers in the fight to end Veteran homelessness.
VA has doubled down on its commitment to supporting homeless Veterans by setting the goal to house 38,000 more unsheltered Veterans and provide them with supportive services to prevent them from falling back into homelessness.
This is a tall order, especially given the cyclical nature of homelessness. So, what is the best way to engage unsheltered Veterans and ensure that once provided housing, they have the vocational and health care resources they need to maintain stability and quality of life?
The answer lies in developing close relationships with community partners who can provide integrated resources that address the complex needs of homeless Veterans.
“We have so many people who contribute to the success of housing Veterans, so having VA be the sole decision makers regarding the development of any process, particularly ‘One Team,’ doesn’t work,” Hammitt said. “What does work is bringing others to the table and creating a structure and a leadership committee where all of our partners come together and can contribute to our success.”
Becoming One Team
One Team (OT) aims to break down silos. By meeting regularly with VA staff and community partners to address a Veteran’s needs, a personalized plan is developed to help individual Veterans get into permanent housing and give them access to more seamless service.
“I think what’s really cool about OT is that it allows VA and our partners to lean into the expertise of one another,” Hammitt said. This approach allows the team to assess the needs of each Veteran and then direct them to expert services that will help Veterans stabilize and begin regaining their health and independence.
Bringing One Team to LA
Making progress in the mission to end Veteran homelessness was especially urgent in Los Angeles County, which has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the nation.
In 2023, when Hammitt began implementing OT and working more closely with community partners, she quickly saw the need to become more flexible.
“Our geography is incredibly wide, and some of the areas are more resource rich than others. A cookie cutter approach does not work for us. In fact, in a lot of our outlying areas, we often require very different strategies to ensure success,” said Hammitt.
Bringing everyone to the table allowed them to work as a community to solve Veteran homelessness and focus on removing barriers and working together to move Veterans through the process of securing housing quickly, easily and cost-effectively.
Today, Veteran homelessness in the county is at its lowest level since 2016, dropping 23% from 2023 to 2024.
But they haven’t stopped there. In early 2025, Hammitt launched a partnership with LA Mayor Karen Bass and public-private partners to continue the mission to get as many Veterans as possible into permanent housing.
Learn about VA programs
- Read more about how the One Team Approach helps reduce Veteran homelessness.
- If you are a Veteran who is homeless or at risk for homelessness or need to connect with a Veterans justice outreach specialist, call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-424-3838.
- Visit the VA Homeless Programs website to learn about housing initiatives and other programs for Veterans exiting homelessness.
- Learn how to get involved with housing homeless Veterans.
Author: nikkiverbeck