On July 15, 2021, Nevada County announced that it was participating in Built for Zero, a national initiative of more than 80 communities working together to measurably end homelessness, one population at a time. We also announced that we had been recently pushed into the “Last Mile Cohort”, which signified that with 28 identified homeless veterans in our county, we had entered the last mile of end homelessness for our veteran population. The significance of this milestone is that it provided additional financial resources to assist our veterans obtain permanent housing and gave us an opportunity establish Veteran’s Day of 2021, as the date we will achieve this goal.
The recent River Fire was devasting to our community and it permanently displaced many families and veterans. Any person who has been permanently displaced by the River Fire should call 211 and communicate to them your current situation. This process takes 20 to 30 minutes in total and places individuals in search of permanent housing on our county’s coordinated entry list, which notifies multiple agencies that assistance is needed. This is a very important step for any veteran who was recently displaced or who is currently homeless because it will allow for multiple agencies to become aware of their immediate situation.
The Nevada County Veterans Services Office (CVSO) meets weekly with multiple agencies that all working off the same list to locate and secure long-term housing solutions for every veteran on the list. If there is a homeless veteran who has not yet been placed on the list, please direct them to call 211. All of these agencies working together to ensure the success of our mission to measurably end veterans homelessness by Veterans Day will not be successful if we do not have every homeless veteran in our county identified.
If you know of a veteran who has recently been displaced due to the recent River Fire or a chronically homeless veteran and they are uncomfortable calling 211, please have them contact the Nevada County Veterans Service Office. We can assist them with the process of being placed on the coordinated entry list and assist them with obtaining the benefits that he or she is entitled to.
David West is the Nevada County Veterans Service Officer. Reach him at (530) 265-1446 or david.west@co.nevada.ca.us. The Nevada County Veteran’s Services Office, 988 McCourtney Rd, Grass Valley, CA, is open from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.