Pittsburgh nonprofit needs new van to transport homeless veterans

Veterans Place, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit, needs to raise $35,000 to add to a matching grant to buy a new bus to transport homeless veterans to its Washington Boulevard site in East Liberty for food, counseling, job training and other services.

The nonprofit just launched a crowd-funding campaign to raise money to equal a $35,000 matching grant awarded from an anonymous Pittsburgh foundation.

“We find that when vets transition out of the military, they need an array of support services due to transition issues and military service-related injuries such as PTSD and general trauma,” said Robert Hamilton, the Lower Burrell resident who is CEO of the nonprofit.

The National Coalition of Homeless Veterans estimates that 49,000 veterans are homeless on any particular night in the country.

Veterans Place picks up the homeless from shelters and brings them to its East Liberty site to provide a number of services to address the root causes of housing instability, including substance use disorders and mental illness.

“The vets we serve face complex barriers and extreme conditions,” Hamilton said. “Without our services to assist with housing, support and employment services, these veterans would be left to fend for themselves during critical times with the pandemic, severe weather and the lack of transition support from the military.”

Veterans Place serves between 500 to 800 homeless vets annually in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties and surrounding areas, Hamilton said.

That is, if its van continues running to pick up homeless vets at area shelters.

The old van is on it last legs, and the nonprofit needs to buy a new one as soon as possible before there are breakdowns, Hamilton said.

Besides reliability, the new 12-passenger bus will offer handicap accessibility unlike Veterans Place’s current vehicle.