PETERSBURG—The Crater Region is now the 11th community in the nation to reach functional zero for homeless veterans, as officials celebrated on Thursday.
The term functional zero when a community is able to identify and serve homeless individuals within 30 days. The region originally hit the milestone in February; a homeless sub population must fall below 3 in order to be considered.
“We now know, because we have experienced it, that ending homelessness is possible,” said Kimberly Tucker, senior director of Flagler Housing & Homeless Services at St. Joseph’s Villa.
Tucker, along with community leaders, commemorated the procurement in a press conference outside the Historic Petersburg Courthouse on Thursday morning. Speakers honored the work done by Flagler Housing and Homeless Services and joint organizations and extended hope in achieving the same accomplishment in other homeless populations.