Mayor's Challenge to End Veterans' Homelessness underway in Abilene

ABILENE, Texas — The City of Abilene is one step closer to helping the city's homeless people who have served and fought for their nation.

Mayor of Abilene Anthony Williams issued a challenge on Tuesday to end veteran homelessness in the City of Abilene over the next 100 days.

The exact number of homeless veterans on the streets of Abilene is unknown, but according to a recent survey, five percent of the city's homeless people are veterans.

The City of Abilene hopes to change that sobering statistic over just the next 100 days.

Beginning on October 23, the West Texas Homeless Network, the City of Abilene, the West Texas VA Health Care System and other local agencies hope to house every single homeless veteran in Abilene.

The idea is to find housing for homeless veterans, which will hopefully help them to start to turn their lives around in a positive manner.

"If you have a place to live that you can go home and sleep and get up and get dressed, that makes finding a job that much easier. That's one less thing you have to worry about," said Kyle McAlister of the Abilene City Council.

"Most of these men come from an age where a man is a man and so to ask for help is a difficult thing," said Rebecca Friday of the West Texas VA Health Care System.