Gov. Sherrill announces statewide housing system to ensure no veteran experiences homelessness
TRENTON, New Jersey (WABC) -- New Jersey has reached a major milestone in its effort to end veteran homelessness, with a fully funded, coordinated housing system now in place to ensure no veteran has to go without stable housing, Gov. Mikie Sherrill announced.
The announcement marks a key achievement of the state's Bringing Veterans Home initiative, which launched in November 2024 to reduce veteran homelessness by making it "rare, brief and non-recurring."
State officials said New Jersey is now housing more veterans each month than are entering homelessness, a trend they say has been sustained through the program.
"I am incredibly honored to announce that, because of the quick and effective response of our Bringing Veterans Home initiative, every veteran in New Jersey can now access stable housing," Sherrill said in a statement. "No veteran in our state should endure the hardship of homelessness."
The initiative is backed by more than $30 million in state and federal funding over two years to provide permanent housing and support services for veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Since the program began, officials said more than 2,500 veterans have been permanently housed.
The Department of Community Affairs' Office of Homelessness Prevention leads the initiative in partnership with the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and several veterans service organizations.
State officials said the program has established six regional coordination hubs across New Jersey to streamline housing assistance and connect veterans with services including rental assistance, rapid rehousing, emergency shelter, street outreach and supportive housing.
"If a New Jersey veteran experiences a housing crisis, Bringing Veterans Home is the backstop preventing full-scale homelessness," Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Jacquelyn A. Suárez said. "Our work is more than housing placement. It is about long-term stability."
Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Commissioner Vincent Solomeno III said the initiative shifts the burden away from veterans navigating multiple agencies.
"Bringing Veterans Home demonstrates what is possible when government stops asking people in crisis to navigate bureaucratic boundaries and instead organizes itself around the outcome we want to achieve," Solomeno said.
Veterans can be referred to the program by community organizations, existing service providers or through self-referral using the Bringing Veterans Home website, NJ Vet2Vet or NJ 211. Officials said veterans are contacted within 24 hours of a referral, with the goal of placing them in stable housing within 30 days.
State officials said the program currently has enough permanent housing capacity to place veterans into stable housing faster than new cases of veteran homelessness occur, while keeping returns to homelessness at a minimum.
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