Organizational History
Like many other nonprofits, our organization started with a passionate individual and the friends, family and supporters who rallied around him. Sidney Singer, an Army Air Corps Veteran of WWII, started Veterans Place
after retiring and recognizing a need for housing in the homeless community of Pittsburgh.
Early Years
In 1980, Sid, a member of another Veterans group in Monroeville, PA, worked with other members to start the East Boros Housing Corporation, a nonprofit organization which developed a 101-unit senior citizen high-rise apartment complex in Monroeville. This complex immediately proved to be an excellent resource for low-income senior citizens, providing quality, affordable apartments.
In 1992, the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System asked Sid and his organization to help develop housing for homeless Veterans. The organization had showed its ability to develop housing for the aging community; why not transfer that talent to provide care for Veterans? A separate nonprofit corporation was formed to acquire and rehabilitate two houses in the Pittsburgh area. The houses were renovated with funds raised and grants procured, and with building assistance provided by members of Habitat for Humanity, the Black Vietnam Veterans Organization and residents of the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) Program.
A New Chapter
The success of this project led to a larger, more ambitious project, Veterans Place of Washington Boulevard. Shortly after the first two properties were up and running, the organization learned that 21 adjacent row-houses might be available. The properties along a piece of Washington Boulevard in Larimer had long been abandoned, and the City of Pittsburgh was eager to find a useful solution in dealing with them. With the help of the Pittsburgh City Council, the organization was allowed to purchase the entire row of properties from the city for only $1. With the newly acquired set of properties in hand, the organization again set out to develop the properties through a partnership with the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System HCHV Program and other organizations. The end result was a row of townhouses that could provide living accomodations for up to 48 homeless Veterans as part of a recovery program run in cooperation with the Veterans Administration. The first Transitional Housing resident arrived on February 12, 2004, and we haven't looked back since.
Creating New Opportunities
From the moment the organization began planning the redevelopment of the townhouses, there was always the thought that in order to recover from the core issues that cause Veterans to become homeless - primarily substance abuse and mental health problems - there needs to be more than just housing. Sid felt that the property redevelopment offered a window of opportunity to create a center of healing, growth and recovery that would allow Veterans to rebuild their lives. Beyond housing, there needed to be a place for other services to be delivered. With that in mind, in 2005 the organization set out on an ambitious plan to develop a Service Center building on the same site as the Transitional Housing operation. After several years of fundraising and construction, In 2008 Veterans Place opened a brand new Service Center on Washington Boulevard with over 7000 ft2 of space including:
Two computer labs
Two classrooms
- Dayroom
- Full kitchen area plus seperate kitchenette
- Conference room
- 800 ft2 meeting room
- Office space for the growing organization
The Service Center provides a venue for the delivery of a wide variety of resources to the homeless Veteran community including job development, addiction recovery programming, case management, and training.
Veterans Place Today
Having experienced the impact that one organization can have on the lives of America's countless homeless Veterans, we continue to strive toward our goal of serving those who have served our nation in its most desperate hours. Through both the Transitional Housing Program and the Service Center, we focus on having a lasting impact on the Veterans we meet.
Just as it did in 2004, our Transitional Housing program continues to house Veterans in need of support. Veterans in this program receive case management, recovery support, clothing, an on-site food pantry, employment support, and other services designed to build them toward self-sufficiency and successful independent living.
In October of 2010, we launched the Homeless Veterans Day Program, designed specifically to address the immediate needs of Veterans living in Pittsburgh's shelters and on the streets. Each day, Monday through Friday, our shuttle picks up Veterans at shelters throughout Pittsburgh and transports them here to our Service Center. Once here, we provide them with breakfast, lunch, clothing, case management, referrals and services designed to address the root issues that cause homelessness, including chemical dependency and mental illness. We are also able to provide other transportation support, including shuttle service for medical appointments and access to other community resources.
For more information on any of our facilities or programming, please call 412.363.0500 or email us at info@veteransplace.org.