TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - President Obama didn't reach his goal to end veteran homelessness by the end of last year, but he says the United States is now halfway there.
Right now there are more than 39,000 homeless veterans in our country.
The state of Arizona is responsible for just over 1,000 of those.
That's according to a new report from the "department of housing and urban development."
The number of homeless veterans is down nearly half since 2010.
From just January of last year to January of this year the number dropped seventeen percent.
The government credits programs for veterans helping with health care, housing, job training and education for helping reduce homelessness.
The Veterans Administration says last year 99,000 veterans secured or stayed in permanent housing because of those government programs.
There's also a mayor's challenge to end veteran homelessness going on now.
More than 700 mayors have signed on.
So who are these homeless veterans?
Nearly half of homeless veterans served during the Vietnam War according to the "National Coalition for Homeless Veterans."
But overall homeless veterans are younger on average than the total veteran population.
Forty-one percent are between the ages of 31 and 50, compared to less than twenty-three percent for the entire group.
