Project CHALENG
Overview
Community Homelessness Assessment, Local Education and Networking Groups for Veterans, commonly referred to as Project CHALENG, was launched in 1994 to bring together providers, advocates, Veterans, and other concerned citizens to identify the needs of homeless Veterans and work to meet those needs through planning and cooperative action. The result of which has built thousands of partnerships involving community and Veterans’ groups, law enforcement agencies, as well as federal, state, and local government which, together, are improving services for homeless Veterans.
Main Components
Survey
Project CHALENG includes a CHALENG survey in which participants rate the needs of homeless Veterans in their local communities. More specifically, the survey assesses local challenges faced by homeless Veterans, identifies unmet needs, and encourages partnerships to meet those needs.
This is a digital survey (use the “Take the Survey” link to access) where PDF copies of the Provider and Veteran survey can be provided by contacting us.
*Note: The “Take the Survey” link will not work when the survey is not currently active..
Data & Analysis
The resulting data and analysis from the CHALENG survey has assisted VA in developing new services for Veterans, including the Homeless Veteran Dental Program (HVDP), the expansion of the Department of Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program , the Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO) program, and the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program. In addition, community organizations use CHALENG data in grant applications to support services for homeless Veterans; grant applications are for VA and other funders, which maximizes community participation in serving homeless Veterans.
Meetings
Project CHALENG includes meetings whose goal is to foster collaborations between VA and community service providers to address barriers identified from the CHALENG survey in order to provide housing for Veterans who are homeless and prevent homelessness among all Veterans.
If you have any questions, thoughts, and/or concerns about the CHALENG survey, meetings, data & analysis, or Project CHALENG in general, please reach out to us.