Veteran’s Day is a day to remember the sacrifice and service of so many veterans in our nation. On this day we should also commit to the goal of ending veteran homelessness. No service member should ever face homelessness.

The good news is that our nation is making progress. Last week, three federal agencies (Housing & Urban Development, Veteran’s Administration, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness) announced major progress on veteran homelessness reductions. Newly released data from 2022 studies reveal an 11% decrease in veteran homelessness since 2020, and a 55.3% decrease since 2010. In Maine, thanks to many community organizations, there are 162 homeless veterans in the whole state. These declines demonstrate the success of veteran homelessness programs that use Housing First principles.

The bad news is that this progress has only come after a decade of significant new funding from the federal government to increase housing and services to veterans. To sustain this progress, we must keep building housing, for our service members and others struggling to find a home. The housing crunch is not going away without bold action.

The pace of housing development right now is not meeting the demand. Winter is coming and the number of people living outside is at a peak. Maine’s rental vacancy rates are less than 1% in many areas, driving up rents. It’s wonderful that 16,300 people choose to move to Maine to work and live last year. Our economy needs this vibrant workforce. The challenge we must address, is that in that time, only 6,800 building permits were awarded and 80% were for single-family homes.

What’s the solution for veterans experiencing homelessness, building our state’s workforce and economy, and ensuring all people in Maine have a home? More housing.

Maine needs safe, quality, affordable places that are available to rent or purchase. The data shows that Maine and the nation haven’t been investing in or building enough housing for our Veterans or the general population for decades. We know everyone in Maine deserves a home.

That’s why the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition has launched HOMEforME, an initiative based on four solutions that will build a foundation for addressing Maine’s housing crisis.

1. Incentivize new housing construction. We can only address our housing crisis if we build more homes. That’s why lawmakers need to support a suite of reforms that incentivize building everything from small accessory dwelling units to larger affordable housing projects.
2. Pass a housing infrastructure bond. Like our roads and bridges, housing is infrastructure. Housing supply has not kept up with demand. We’ve only built an average of 250 affordable homes per year, but the need is 1,000 per year. With 25,000 people on affordable housing waitlists statewide, we must invest in building more housing.
3. Cut red tape to improve land use laws. Local zoning matters. Our housing crisis was created by federal, state and local zoning policies over generations. Statewide zoning action can address the patchwork of laws across Maine and provide more equitable access to housing.
4. Use existing buildings and land for housing. Leverage already developed sites in commercial zones or underutilized areas to get all Maine people housed.

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