Tri County Homeless Interagency Council hopes to house 30 vets in 100 days

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — At the Wilmington VA Clinic the Tri County Homeless Interagency Council held a news conference today to talk about their more aggressive approach to getting veterans off the streets and into housing.

Cecelia Peers with the Council said they are looking to house 30 veterans in New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender counties in 100 days. She said since the program kicked off at the end of February they have already housed five veterans.

“We also want to engage at least 15 more landlords to work with our HUD-VASH program and also our supportive services for veterans and families program. We also want to have at least nine more agencies reaching out to us on a regular basis to let us know if they’ve identified a homeless veteran,” Peers said.

One local veter who received help getting back on his feet from Family Endeavors spoke today. He said veterans need to put their pride aside and ask for help when they need it.
“You’re given a mentality of strive and do things on your own and so forth and that’s fine but sometimes you just have to ask, even if it’s just for information,” said US Air Force veteran Bernard Chanona

Chanona said he now has a place to call his own, a good job, and is attending classes at Cape Fear Community College.