NBC News DFW reported on Dec. 20th that the city of Fort Worth teamed up the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition and other service organizations in an effort to collaborate and prioritize efforts to house homeless Veterans. According to the report, the collaborative effort far exceeded its goal for 2018 of housing 100 homeless veterans, finding homes for 181.
The majority of funding comes from federal grants but the city also helped. Barry Daniels, age 54, was one of the vets to receive housing. Daniels joined the U.S. Army at age 19 and later in life became addicted to drugs and entered into the prison system, consequently ending up homeless. He said he is grateful, “You can’t always rely on handouts all the time,” he said. “It’s great we get them. It’s great we get fed every day and we don’t have to worry about that. But please if you have an addiction seek help and try to go to work and get your life back together.” He started working at the Presbyterian Night Shelter helping pick up trash around the city. “If I can do it, anybody can do it,” he said.
