Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton stood beside U.S. Senator John McCain earlier this week -- on Veteran's Day -- and pledged that every chronically homeless veteran in Phoenix will be housed come Christmas.
On Tuesday, the Phoenix City Council approved earmarking $100,000 toward getting the remaining 56 chronically homeless veterans off Valley streets.
We asked Stanton why tackling homelessness among veterans topped his political agenda, and he seemed puzzled by the question.
"These are people who have given so much to us, and now, they need our help," he says. "It's the right thing to do."
The mayor says it's just a starting point. He plans to apply the lessons learned and the strategies developed with this undertaking and apply it to end homelessness among the broader population of homeless individuals across the Valley.
Stanton has been working with an organization called Project H3 VETS in hopes of pushing Phoenix toward becoming the nation's first city to get a roof over every homeless veteran's head.
That organization consists the Arizona Coalition to End Homelessness, Phoenix VA Health Care System, Arizona Department of Veteran Services, Arizona Department of Housing, Valley of the Sun United Way, Community Bridges, City of Phoenix and others.
