Some tough numbers about a segment of the population of living veterans of the armed services as we mark the Memorial Day holiday in honor of their fallen comrades:
The most recent estimate from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority puts the homeless population at 58,000 countywide, with about 4,800 of them veterans.
The amount of money voters have agreed to pay through two separate tax increases – one in the City of Los Angeles, the other a county measure – has already reached hundreds of millions of dollars.
The total will eventually reach billions of dollars – a commitment that reflects the will of our society, including the community of business, which generally sees homelessness as a threat to a thriving marketplace as well as a plain heartbreak.
Yet the timeline for making a significant dent in the challenge of homelessness nevertheless remains measured in years.
Such circumstances are dreary enough to set one’s mind to imagining what a wonder it would be if there were some big place with lots of room, ranging from excess space in existing buildings to various patches of open land.
Think of a place run by an organization that has hard-earned experience in dealing with crises, and takes everything from sanitation to supplies and logistics into consideration as a matter of second nature whether it’s engaged in setting up an overnight stop in the middle of nowhere or a permanent settlement.
Imagine this sort of an outfit turning its expertise and resources toward a campus intended for recovery, with a hospital and legions of doctors, nurses and support personnel.
Imagine the campus is designed to exist apart from the everyday rigmarole of life while sparing neighbors any disruptions.
And what if disruptions occurred in any case?
Just imagine that this place has its own, specially trained police force.
Now think of the Veterans Administration campus in Westwood – which has all of those assets and more.
What’s stopping the VA from clearing whatever room is available in existing buildings at its Westwood campus, supplementing those with tents or Quonset huts in open spaces, if needed, and beginning immediate intake and triage for homeless vets?
The VA has had its share of operational difficulties in recent years, but it remains a health care system of enormous capacity and a clearly defined constituency.
It’s part of the U.S. Department of Defense, an umbrella for the armed forces, which together possess more experience at creating functional housing from out of nothing and under difficult circumstances than any other entity in the world.
Go ahead and make your list of objections – reasons this couldn’t or shouldn’t be done at the VA’s campus in Westwood.
Then cross them all out and put these down as reasons to do it: We have the capacity – and we owe our homeless vets a better effort in return for their service.
