Navy veteran Alyssa Koeppen felt some added satisfaction on Tuesday as she listened to Hennepin County officials announce the county's successful steps toward effectively ending veteran homelessness.

Koeppen, 54, became homeless and had to sleep on friends’ couches on-and-off after 13 years living abroad in the military and returning to Minnesota. But then in September, Koeppen secured rental housing through a Hennepin County program. She said that in recent months she’s noticed a reduction in the number of veterans she meets on the street who are homeless.

“We’re getting housed, and that matters,” Koeppen said.

She joined dozens of others at the celebratory event Tuesday morning in the Hennepin County Government Center where county officials declared they had made major progress with finding housing for veterans and ending veteran homelessness.

That assertion does not mean there will be no future veterans who become homeless and that the goal of ending veteran homelessness has been fully attained. Plus, the overall rate of people experiencing homelessness in the county and state has increased to their highest levels, according to this year’s Point-in-Time Count.

But for any veterans who become homeless, the county says that period will be rare, brief and nonrecurring. The county is also helping veterans overcome homelessness at a faster rate than those who are becoming homeless, officials said.

Hennepin County had 69 veterans experiencing homelessness at the end of September, a nearly 60% decrease from August 2023, according to data provided by the county. Five of those 69 homeless veterans remain unsheltered, the county said. Neil Doyle, director of the Hennepin County Veteran Service Office, said he’s proud of the achievement, but also recognized there is much work to be done in ending veteran homelessness.

“Today’s announcement doesn’t by any means mark an end to this critical work,” he said to the crowd on Tuesday. “We are only pausing for a moment to acknowledge this key milestone.”

The recognition was certified by several departments and agencies in the federal government. It followed an eight-months review process, County Commissioner Angela Conley said. While it was a multigroup effort, the social workers who connected with homeless veterans played a key role, Conley said.

Read the full article about ending veteran homelessness by Louis Krauss at The Minnesota Star Tribune.