“I thought the military was tough, but I think homelessness is even tougher,” he said.

Originally from Santa Fe, Lopez became homeless in 2004, which he said was largely due to alcoholism. He spent most of the next 20 years homeless, bouncing between the city’s various shelters and the streets.

Most recently, local nonprofit The Life Link connected him with a social worker at the New Mexico VA health system, and he was able to obtain a federal veterans housing voucher.

About six months ago, he used the voucher to move into an apartment on St. Michael’s Drive.

“It’s got everything I need,” he said of his new home. “It’s a good place to live, it’s better than under the bridges.”

Lopez is one of many homeless veterans who have obtained housing over the past decade, thanks to the combined efforts of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The joint initiative has helped veterans experiencing homelessness reach an all-time high nationwide since 2009.

A group of local partners, including the city of Santa Fe and the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness, set out to reduce veteran homelessness here, too, with an ambitious goal of reaching ” zero functional” by Veterans Day this week.

Recent data from the Coalition to End Homelessness shows it has fallen short of this goal; there were 18 homeless veterans living within the city limits.

Still, local providers who work with homeless veterans say an important process has been accomplished.

“I think it’s a very achievable goal in the near future if we continue to move in this direction,” said Ryan Likes, Goodwill Industries program manager of New Mexico Veterans Family Support Services.

Santa Fe joined the national nonprofit Community Solutions’ Built for Zero initiative in 2019, a data-driven approach to ending homelessness at the local level.

The city had a “rocky start” with the initiative, said Brittany Rodriguez of the Coalition to End Homelessness.

The initiative was largely dormant for several years during the COVID-19 pandemic, when data was not being collected, Rodriguez said. The work shifted from the city to its organization in 2023. The coalition is now fully responsible for implementing the effort, although Rodriguez said the city remains a “key player.”

The target date for ending veteran homelessness by Nov. 11, 2024, was set in 2023 by a group including the city. At the same time, the goal of reaching functional zero for young people – the point at which housing can be quickly found for anyone who becomes homeless within a population – has been set for August 2025.

Rodriguez said the target date for ending veteran homelessness was “super ambitious” and was being re-evaluated by the coalition, with no new target date chosen.

By many accounts, the city had reached functional zero for veterans before it even officially joined Built for Zero.

Santa Fe County Commissioner Hank Hughes, former executive director of the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness, said the city reached functional zero during his tenure but the pandemic wiped out the progress.

The Obama administration invested money in the HUD-Veterans Affairs supportive housing program, known as HUD-VASH, he said, which made a huge difference.

Before the pandemic, he added, there was more affordable housing available in Santa Fe, “which isn’t really the case today.”

Since the coalition took over Built for Zero in 2023, Rodriguez said, it has been able to make significant progress in data collection, a key part of the model. But she echoed Hughes’ sentiments regarding housing.

“The truth is, what we need most is affordable housing,” she said. “Once we identify all of these people, the next step will be to house them, and those options are very limited at the moment.”

The shortage of affordable housing is particularly severe for veterans because many of them cannot live in multifamily complexes.

That’s the case for U.S. Army veteran Ira Smith, who said he hasn’t yet used his HUD-VASH voucher because he’s “pretty picky” about where to live.

“I would rather have an independent unit than an apartment,” he said, adding that he would also prefer to be self-sufficient rather than relying on social services.

Although Likes said he supports increasing all types of affordable housing, “the problem is not going to be solved by just building large affordable housing complexes.”

Goodwill Industries’ program for veterans, many of whom suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, has found the most success with private landlords willing to rent duplexes and casitas at affordable rates.

“It’s a unique need that we see (among veterans), much more so than in the general population, and unfortunately there is an extreme lack of this type of housing,” Likes said.

PTSD can also prevent homeless veterans from staying in congregate shelters like Pete’s Place Interfaith Community Shelter. “They would rather be on the street, in the bad weather, than in this environment,” Likes said.

To bridge the gap, a team of agencies that work with homeless veterans in the Santa Fe area explored creating a community of small housing units — known as a Pallet Shelter Village – specifically for veterans.

James Williams, chairman of the city’s Veterans Advisory Council, said it was difficult to find a place willing to host a “micro-community” of veterans through a city initiative.

“We talked to a lot of people, and most of them said no right off the bat,” he said.

The Veterans Advisory Council is part of the team, which also includes representatives from Goodwill Industries, Interfaith Community Shelter, Coalition to End Homelessness, the VA, the city and other organizations.

City spokeswoman Regina Ruiz declined multiple requests for interviews with city staff about efforts to combat veteran homelessness.

In a statement she made on behalf of Community Health and Safety Director Henri Hammond-Paul, she said the city remains a dedicated partner in the coalition’s efforts.

“For those who have served, we believe that supporting their transition to stable housing is both a moral obligation and a fundamental priority,” Hammond-Paul said in the release, emphasizing that increased collaboration between providers and a more affordable housing stock are key elements in an effort toward this goal.

“By combining these efforts, we are working toward a lasting, lasting impact on homelessness among veterans and other vulnerable populations,” he said.

Although the number of formerly homeless people is not over, providers say they have seen a marked decrease.

Joe Dudziak of Chaplain Joe’s Street Outreach, a U.S. Air Force veteran, said he has seen the city’s population of homeless veterans decrease significantly, “compared to 10 years ago; There were a lot of veterans in the shelter and a lot of veterans on the street. »

The pandemic, which has reshaped homeless services across the country, has added even more uncertainty.

Likes said a benchmark is still being established for “what is ‘normal’ for homeless veterans here in Santa Fe County, because the pandemic has turned things so upside down.”

While some vendors were more skeptical, Likes said he was encouraged by the work Built for Zero has done in the past year since it began its ramp-up.

“I love what Built for Zero is doing,” he said. “I think this has been a real benefit to our community and I hope the support for this continues.”

Lopez and Smith both say they appreciate the city’s services to help the homeless, as well as the individual residents who have helped.

“I think, like many places, they are doing the best they can,” Smith said. “There are a lot of programs here.”

Lopez said he wouldn’t wish his experiences of homelessness on anyone and wants people to understand that “homeless people are people too.”

Although he became homeless in part because of his addiction, he said the rising cost of living in Santa Fe made it increasingly difficult to find housing.

“I love my country,” he said. “I still love my hometown, but price-wise, it’s hard.”