Bay Pines VA Homeless Programs Exceed Goals Through Outreach, Partnership, and Rapid Action
By Michael Brock, Public Affairs Specialist
The Bay Pines VA Healthcare System’s Homeless Program serves as a gateway to VA and community supportive services for eligible Veterans who are homeless or at-risk of becoming homeless. In fiscal year 2025, that mission translated into outcomes that surpassed national benchmarks.
“In FY25, 953 unique Veterans were housed, accounting for 115.5 percent of the Homeless Programs’ identified goal,” said Bay Pines VA Homeless Program Section Chief Yvonne Morales. “Less than five percent of those Veterans returned to homelessness.”
Morales credits her team’s ability to connect hundreds of Veterans to safe and stable housing, to an intentional and coordinated outreach approach that brings VA staff, the HUD-VASH team, and community partners together.
“Our catchment area is very diverse, in locale and populations. We have to contend with significant housing market pressures, as well as continuous disaster preparedness,” Morales explained. “The partnerships we have developed with community providers have allowed for assisting homeless Veterans in any environment.”
VA and community partners routinely share data to track returns to homelessness. According to Morales, these processes allow Bay Pines VA staff to focus on VA’s goal to make homelessness rare, brief, and nonrecurring.
“VA social workers, outreach teams, and community partners engage homeless Veterans, develop rapport, and initiate access to needed services,” Morales said. “Progressive engagement is paramount to ensuring appropriate, individualized interventions.”
For Bay Pines VA staff, this progressive engagement is delivered in the form of frequent clinical huddles, outreach teams that are stationed at homeless shelters and community hubs, and surge events that are aimed at securing housing and long-term supportive services for Veterans on the same day they’re encountered.
“In August 2025, VA and community partners went out into the streets conducting outreach and engaged 68 Veterans,” Morales shared. “Five of those Veterans were able to sign a lease and move into a unit the same day.”
In addition to the quantitative outcomes, the experiences of formerly homeless Veterans remain at the center of measurements of success.
“This is an excellent program…they helped me out when I needed them most,” said David Snow, a 79-year-old Air Force Veteran and former participant in the Bay Pines VA Homeless Program. “If you are a Veteran in need, get connected and fill out your paperwork. They have been so much help.”
While Bay Pines VA’s Homeless Program continues to exceed goals, Morales acknowledges that barriers remain.
“Common barriers include lack of documentation, legal challenges, poor credit or rental history, transportation issues, and medical or behavioral health needs,” she said. “To address these challenges, we have established flexible partnerships with landlords and providers who offer move-in assistance and financial support.”
For Morales and her team, exceeding goals is not the end point – it is confirmation that the right systems are in place.
“At Bay Pines, we meet Veterans where they are and act quickly to help them transition off the streets or remain securely housed,” she said. “Our dedicated social work team, alongside community partners, is deeply committed to ensuring every Veteran has a safe and stable place to call home.”