In the last decade, significant progress has been made toward ending veteran homelessness in Minnesota.
Joseph Akerman, an employment specialist for the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV), aims to help veterans secure stable housing and employment so they don’t need to return for further assistance. Working alongside housing stabilization case manager Thomas Avegnon, Akerman serves veterans in west-central Minnesota and surrounding regions. MACV is part of a statewide network addressing veteran homelessness, which has seen significant progress over the past decade, cutting the number of homeless veterans in Minnesota from 644 in 2010 to 336 in 2023.
Efforts include a coordinated approach involving various organizations and a veteran homelessness registry created in 2014. Minnesota aims for “functional zero” homelessness, where homelessness is rare and brief. Currently, eight of the state’s 10 regional continuums of care have declared an end to veteran homelessness, with Hennepin and Ramsey Counties still working toward that goal.
