According to Veterans Affairs, there are nearly 32,882 veterans who were deemed homeless in January 2024. Nonprofits across the nation seeking to assist veterans face similar issues, especially in how they receive funding, and have developed their own unique business models to assist this population.
In this episode, George Headley speaks with two nonprofit organizations that were established to reduce veteran homelessness. Ben Hendershot, the vice president of national expansion at Veterans Community Project, discusses the organization’s latest expansion to Glendale, Arizona, and how they partner with many private entities and the local government to achieve their goals. Similarly, Colleen Corliss, chief development officer at Swords to Plowshares, discusses how the organization regularly partners with Veterans Affairs to fulfill its mission and partners with private entities to fill gaps in its funding model.
Transcript
George Headley: Welcome to “We Mean Business.” This is “Drive to Work with George Headley.” In this series, I talk to people about what drives them to work on highlighting the issues they believe are important. According to Veterans Affairs (VA), there are nearly 32,882 veterans who were deemed homeless in January of 2024. However, this number excludes some veterans who might not meet the criteria of what it means to be “homeless” by the federal agency. The VA relies on the HUD definition of homelessness under the McKinney-Vento Act, which can exclude veterans who are couch surfing or staying with family or friends. Nonprofits across the nation seeking to assist this population face similar issues, especially in how they receive funding. Different organizations use different approaches, which creates an array of nonprofit business models that seek to achieve the same goal – reducing veteran homelessness through unique solutions. I spoke with two organizations, Veterans Community Project and Swords to Plowshares, about how their funding model boosts support for veterans. The nonprofit, Veterans Community Project, hopes to continue to decrease the number of homeless veterans, but accomplishes it through offering transitional housing through private capital. Ben Hendershot is the vice president of national expansion for Veterans Community Project. I spoke with him about their developments in Arizona and how they’ve approached the problem through temporary, transitional housing.
Ben Hendershot: We partner with the VA. We partner with other service providers. A lot of them are local to whatever village that we’re talking about. I will tell you that we are not a mental health facility, we are not a rehabilitation program, we are a transitional housing program, and we really try to create a space where we can partner with local service providers that want to, as we put it, do more than just stand up at a ball game and applaud for veterans, but really help us do the work to make these these women and these men successful.
And really, what the lack is, is that “in between.” And we’ve really proven that our recidivism rate within these permanent housing programs is because you take people who are in a fight or flight type of mentality and drop them in a permanent housing solution, and they will fail. So we work with individuals who are ready to make a life change and bring them into a safe space, a private space with a lockable door, and really work with them to teach them how to operate in day-to-day life in society. And then when they are ready, we help transition them to whatever that permanent housing solution looks like. You know, for some it’s home ownership. For some it’s market rate rental. For some, they’ll need some type of assistance for the rest of their life and everything in between.
The Glendale [, Arizona] project that we’re actively working on, we’ve already got the zoning done and approved through the city council. We also have the general plan approved and we are actively working with the city for a building permit, and have submitted for permits already, and working through that process.
Headley: The Veterans Community Project has been working with the city of Glendale and broke ground in February. The organization often gathers support through partnerships, as well as state and city funding.
Hendershot: We do work with the VA in terms of partnerships. There are some limited opportunities for operating dollars that we work with on the VA for suicide prevention. Outside of that, the capital dollars that we raise for these projects, as well as the operating dollars, come from other sources. Whether it’s foundations, grants, individuals, whether it’s partnerships, we have to get creative on how to raise the capital and the operating dollars to really keep this organization doing the work that it’s doing.
When we look at potential projects, the things that we really look at is the availability of property. So we’re still a fairly new organization, so we don’t have a huge endowment to dip into for land acquisition, so we really try to get creative with that and make sure that availability of land is there. We look and see if there’s any local champions that are leaders in the community, whether elected or not, that are willing to take a project like this on and really give it the kickstart it really needs in terms of helping to network and build the relationships needed to make something like this successful.
In Glendale’s scenario, the city came to us and said, “Well, how can we make this move faster?” And one of the hardest things to raise money for is water pipes and sewer pipes, right? Nobody wants to really pay to move dirt around. They’re graceful enough to really work with us, to help us get some of the initial dollars that are really required, that are quite honestly the hardest to go out and fundraise for, to expedite the process so we can start serving these veterans sooner instead of later.
Headley: The project, starting in Kansas City, has expanded to be in six different locations, including their recent collaboration with the City of Glendale in Arizona. However, each location differs, building off the unique environments of each area. For example, Arizona is adopting high insulation value to promote cooling within its housing, as well as potential for a splash park to be incorporated, according to Stephen Staniscott, the group’s national expansion project manager. The original location — and the creation of the nonprofit as a whole — was done by a group of combat veterans.
Hendershot: The founders of the organization were all combat veterans and all affiliated with the nonprofit work in one capacity or another, whether it was installing HVAC equipment for veterans, or whether it was working pro bono as a lawyer for veterans’ needs. And they all met through that work, and they were all tired of the red tape that they really ran into in the levels of bureaucracy that was really required to be able to help veterans out. So they said, “What would it look like if we were to cut all of the red tape and say yes, and then figure it out?” And the result of that is Veterans Community Project.
Headley: According to the project, 85% of veterans who go through the transitional housing program transition to their own long-term housing.
Hendershot: It’s something that’s dear to my heart. As a former marine and somebody who’s really struggled at different points in my life, and a lot of us here, we definitely connect with the passion and the mission. And we’re going to do everything we can to help as many people as we can. That’s what we wake up every day to go do.
Headley: Swords to Plowshares is a nonprofit that serves homeless veterans in the Bay Area. The organization has been around for nearly 50 years. They provide permanent housing, mental health services and employment opportunities. Colleen Corliss is their chief development officer.
Colleen Corliss: We also have legal services, so we have staff attorneys and pro bono attorneys who help veterans navigate their benefits and, in a lot of cases, restore their benefits. So veterans who were unjustly discharged from military service with a less than fully honorable discharge, and therefore stripped of not just their benefits and access to VA health care, but also their eligibility for VA homeless programs and other services. So that’s a core component and kind of something that sets us apart.
Headley: Swords to Plowshares’ business model relies on funding from companies and partnerships, as well as from federal agencies like the VA.
Corliss: We have a modest portfolio of foundation partners who fill in gaps where our public funding falls short. We have some funding from the state through the California Department of Veterans Affairs and some very, very, very modest funding from the city and county of San Francisco. I think that in terms of business model, in all of our years of experience, we have not really encountered enough barriers to our public funding to say that it doesn’t work for us, right? So uniquely, Swords has always had our doors open to what’s known as “bad-paper veterans,” veterans who were denied benefits and didn’t have an honorable discharge. The Vietnam generation experienced that at really unreasonable rates, particularly towards the end of the war. And so it was our bread and butter from the beginning, helping those veterans to navigate. And even with public funding, you can still serve those veterans with those private dollars that you raise on the side, right? But it’s been really important to us to have VA as a partner, mainly in how far they’ve come with their homeless veteran portfolio.
Headley: Corliss also spoke on how the VA has progressed in assisting veterans, such as in specificity with those who were discharged from service.
Corliss: A lot of people think that there’s honorable or dishonorable. That is not how it works. There’s honorable, general under honorable conditions, there’s misconduct, and then there’s dishonorable. Dishonorable is an extremely small percentage, and there’s really no restoring those benefits. It’s essentially like a serious felony. But the VA has come so far. Actually, during COVID really opened up some eligibility parameters around housing, and so there are more veterans with general and other than honorable discharges, who are now eligible for VA homeless services and mental health services, even without the help of an attorney to correct their records and to grant them eligibility. So they’ve opened their doors quite a bit.
Headley: According to the Veterans Health Administration’s “Negative Impacts of Unsheltered Homelessness,” Dr. Jack Tsai, research director for the National Center on Homelessness Among Veterans, said some veterans can face “both legitimate and perceived barriers that can prevent them from engaging in certain types of care.” This can be due to a previous negative experience with an agency like the VA, for example, Dr. Tsai said in an article written by Monica Diaz, executive director, VHA Homeless Programs Office. A solution, according to Dr. Tsai, is continuing to build relationships and engage with the community. Corliss expressed a similar sentiment.
Corliss: I really realized so clearly years ago, that our legal services are one of those key components that get people who might otherwise be resistant to engage in the door, and then you can really assess them for other needs. Maybe they’re not stably housed, maybe they really do need to talk to a therapist. Maybe they are employable and they just haven’t had opportunity. And the reason that legal services are more appealing and attractive is that that’s going to get them income, right? And so that’s a big motivation. I mean, for people that are very mentally frail, and maybe that logic isn’t even necessarily entering their mind, we opened a veterans community center, which is a re-envisioning of a drop-in center that we have had for a million years. After COVID, realizing isolation, we wanted to expand evening and weekend hours, feed people every day, but also not require anything. Build the trust first by coming here, playing pool, watching a movie, having a meal. So I think it’s, it’s the little things, right? And it doesn’t work the same for everybody.
Headley: The VA’s budget for homeless veterans in the 2025 fiscal year was approximately $3.2 billion, according to the agency. However, Corliss said they often rely on other programs to gain additional funding.
Corliss: Veterans are often noted in campaigns, or, you know, whether local, state, federal, everybody supports veterans, right? Like, why wouldn’t you? But I think what the reality is is that’s not how it plays out. The VA does a great job, and certainly those programs have grown. But, if you look at philanthropy, for example, 0.2% of philanthropy is directed to veteran and veteran spouses and active duty causes, while they make up 7% of the population, right? And so I think there’s this misconception that communities stand up to support veterans, when, in fact, I think everybody thinks that they’re taken care of somewhere else. And so then nobody reacts. Veterans aren’t considered in local planning, state planning, they’re really left out and othered, so it does make it difficult, I think, for veteran-serving organizations to feel as though they can rely upon their local governments or state governments and philanthropy to step up and support them.
Headley: Corliss also spoke on how there can be discrepancies in how the public can generalize support for veterans, often leaving them ignored.
Corliss: It’s like everybody thinks the federal government, the VA, is taking care of all veterans’ needs, all veterans and all of their needs, right? And they don’t care for all veterans, and they certainly don’t care for all needs. And so it’s, it’s everywhere, right? So, you know, local governments need to consider veterans in their planning. State governments need to consider veterans in their planning, and they need to do it more collaboratively, just because, like, for example, in San Francisco, there are about 350 unhoused veterans. Compared to other cohorts, that’s not big enough to become a priority, right? So which is fine, in terms of other populations need to be prioritized, but at the same time, veterans still need to be considered. And they need to be considered in some of that planning. And certainly, because we attract an insane amount of federal resources, both in direct payments to the veterans, and in our own subsidies and grants, certainly we should have consideration. I think in philanthropy, I think it’s really debunking the myth that veterans are so well taken care of. And in the wake of post-9/11 there was a huge surge of corporate partners and philanthropic partners who came to the table led by the Obamas. And most of those people are no longer in, you know, wanting to support veterans at all anymore. So the space has really shrunk, and the support has really shrunk, whereas the problem has not.
Headley: That was Colleen Corliss, the chief development officer at Swords to Plowshares. While both nonprofits make a lasting impact on their communities through different approaches, they are united by one goal: supporting veterans experiencing homelessness. This is We Mean Business: Drive to Work with George Headley.And they need to be considered in some of that planning. And certainly, because we attract an insane amount of federal resources, both in direct payments to the veterans, and in our own subsidies and grants, certainly we should have consideration. I think in philanthropy, I think it’s really debunking the myth that veterans are so well taken care of. And in the wake of post-9/11 there was a huge surge of corporate partners and philanthropic partners who came to the table led by the Obamas. And most of those people are no longer in, you know, wanting to support veterans at all anymore. So the space has really shrunk, and the support has really shrunk, whereas the problem has not.
Headley: That was Colleen Corliss, the chief development officer at Swords to Plowshares. While both nonprofits make a lasting impact on their communities through different approaches, they are united by one goal: supporting veterans experiencing homelessness. This is We Mean Business: Drive to Work with George Headley.
