ABILENE, Texas — On Thursday, Abilene Mayor, Anthony Williams announced the results of the 100-Day challenge that began last October.
He explained that Abilene is the first city in the state of Texas and ranked 9th in the country to end veteran homelessness.
This is the second 100-Day challenge completed for the city of Abilene and the community is celebrating 30 veterans that were permanently housed.
“It’s done because of a community, desire, and expectation to provide services for our most vulnerable,” says Mayor Williams.
It's a success by the West Texas Homeless Network which is made up of local organizations that have not only housed veterans, but their families as well. This includes 38 adults, eight children and 10 veterans that are over the age of 60.
Congressman Stan Lambert was present for the announcement of the results.
“My hometown and your hometown has come forward and address this problem in our city…we know it’s not over it's going to be a continuing effort, but we're very proud of the success,” says Congressman Lambert.
The community of Abilene is not stopping here. The next challenge is to tackle chronic homelessness. This means, a person who has a disability, a person who has been homeless for a year or longer, or someone who has been homeless three or more times in the past three years.
The networks mission is to continue to make homelessness in Abilene, “rare, brief and nonrecurring.”