NORWALK, Conn. Norwalk's plan to end homelessness was applauded last week, but Mayor Richard Moccia feels more needs to be done for returning veterans.
"The United Way is going to continue to help with some funding," he said, "(so) we can have some entry point information for homeless vets, especially the veterans coming back."
Moccia referred to a "single silo," so that a veteran who ends up in the homeless shelter has one phone number to call for help with health care, housing and jobs. "What they've seen over there is, I don't even want to think about it," he said.
Moccia received the United Way of Coastal Fairfield County's "Income Award" on Thursday evening in recognition of "his leadership and drive (that) brought together an extraordinary level of community participation for the development of the Greater Norwalk 10-Year Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness," according to the United Way's website.
"I was very, very honored, I really was," Moccia said. "I just felt that so many people worked hard on that plan, I sort of accepted it for them."
Moccia and David Kennedy, chief operating officer of the United Way chapter, were co-chairmen of the drive to make the plan. Nearly 100 people from the Norwalk area worked on the plan and presented it in March, with a 72-page booklet that includes many goals, including "retool the homeless crisis response system" and "create a seamless delivery system."
The plan outlines benchmarks to measure progress. Goals after one year include "veterans housing needs assessment completed" and "partnerships among veterans service providers are established."
Moccia says most cities the size of Norwalk do not have the single entry point for the information he believes is necessary, because of the logistical hurdles. He said that a recent survey of the homeless showed that in Stamford, about 8.5 percent were veterans, while in Norwalk, 11 percent were veterans.
"That number is always going to go up," he said, adding that he's particularly worried about female veterans. "Just so much can happen, and I don't think we're prepared for it on a federal government level, I really don't," he said, adding that he hopes that as expenses drop when the troops are pulled out of Afghanistan and Iraq, money will be directed to "additional health care for the GIs."
"We've got to have something in place," he said. "Hopefully, the federal government will have the assistance more than they do now, but we need to have something in place, locally ... to have a single silo, or entry point, for continuing care. That's the goal, we've got an ongoing committee, it's going to take time, money and a lot of work. But at least we're making a start."
Contact reporter Nancy Chapman at [email protected].
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