Representatives with several Cass County housing and veteran advocacy organizations have enlisted their services in combating homelessness among former servicemen and servicewomen.

Nearly a dozen people signed a pledge to end veteran homelessness in Cass County during a meeting hosted by officials of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority Tuesday afternoon at the Cass District Library in Cassopolis. Representatives from MSHDA, as well as from the county department of health and human services, veteran’s affairs and other local agencies, participated in the ceremony, signing their names to a large poster board containing the pledge a little more than a week before the nation celebrates Veterans Day on Friday, Nov. 11.

Cass County is one of 30 communities to participate in the MSHDA’s recent initiative to reduce the number of homeless veterans in Michigan, said Nicole Schalow, a homeless assistance specialist with the statewide agency.

“We use the pledge ceremony as a way to thank our communities for their participation in the program as well as for their commitment to continue the effort to fight veteran homelessness, since it is an ongoing problem,” Schalow said.

The veteran program was launched by MSHDA Director Kelly Rose nearly a year ago, in response to ongoing discussions at the state and federal level on how to address homelessness among veterans, Schalow said.

In Michigan, nearly 4,000 veterans were without homes in 2015, according to data from the MSHDA.

In January, officials with MSHDA asked county agencies that receive funding through the state authority to begin sending monthly updates on the condition of veterans living in their area, such as the number of new homeless veterans, how many are seeking housing and how many were successfully housed, Schalow said.

Through meetings such as Tuesday’s pledge ceremony, officials with different local agencies can also connect and share strategies on how to work collaboratively to deal with the problem, Schalow said.

“I absolutely think that these pledges have helped spread the word about the amount of veteran agencies we have in Michigan,” she said. “I think it will continue to spread the more we continue having conversations about the initiative.”

Among those providing assistance to Cass County veterans are officials with Keystone Place, an agency that offers emergency housing and assistance to homeless people living in Cass and St. Joseph counties.

“I think the pledge is an awesome idea,” said Kelli Tackett, director of the organization. “When we put the focus on veterans and attack the problem, it is going to help put an end on homelessness within that population.”

Tackett encourages that veterans, or anyone else who is homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless contact the Cass County DHHS office at (269) 445-0229.