Awards of Merit for Housing Assistance

Women veterans

The Need

  • California has one of the largest veteran populations in the nation (30%), and women make up approximately 8.9% of all homeless veterans. [1]
  • Women veterans take, on average, three months longer than male veterans to find employment after they leave the military and often earn less despite having the same skills enhanced by military service. As a result, in California, 60% of women veterans report having experienced housing instability. [2]
  • Women veterans are between two and four times as likely to be homeless as their nonveteran counterparts [3] and 10% (compared to 15% of nonveterans) live below the poverty line. [4]
  • Women returning from military service are the fastest growing demographic among the homeless population in the United States. [5]

The Program

In 2016, Housing on Merit (HOM) launched the Awards of Merit for Housing Assistance to help unsheltered women veterans in San Diego secure permanent housing. HOM recognized the urgent need to reduce the number of women veterans experiencing homelessness in California. To meet this need, we researched housing barriers and trends in homelessness among female veterans to understand their needs, access to resources, and gaps in funding sources. Through this program, we provide eligible women veterans with the funding needed to help them secure and maintain stable housing.

Headquartered in San Diego, Housing on Merit is proud to partner with several local community organizations to help identify women veterans in need of housing assistance.

Welcoming Our Heroes Home is Housing on Merit’s fundraising initiative to support our Awards of Merit Program. Watch April and Paula’s story, and consider donating to make housing a reality for all women veterans facing homelessness in San Diego.

For more information regarding the Awards of Merit for Housing Assistance Program, please contact Rose Ty at rty@housingonmerit.org.

Sources

  1. HUD 2019 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress.
  2. Homeless Women Veterans are Afraid to be Separated from their Children If They Seek Help, Advocates Say, July 2019.
  3. VA Research Currents — A New Battlefront, March 2018.
  4. Housing Instability among Our Nation’s Veterans, National Low Income Housing Coalition, November 2013.
  5. Homeless Female Veterans: Out of Sight, Out of Mind, November 2019.


Next Steps

HOM has partnered with various community organizations to award subsequent Awards of Merit for Housing Assistance, which are possible due to the individual contributions of people who care. Your donations help us ensure that formerly homeless female veterans maintain housing stability and fully integrate into their communities. Contributions are tax deductible as Housing on Merit is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Housing on Merit’s Tax ID# 45-2991692.

Donate now to HOM “because when a veteran comes home kissing the ground, it is unacceptable that he or she should ever have to sleep on it.” — First Lady Michelle Obama

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