The Home Depot Foundation raises its veterans pledge to $1 billion through 2032

The Home Depot Foundation is raising its commitment to veteran causes to $1 billion by 2032, up from the $750 million by 2030 it had been working toward, the foundation said in a release dated October 22.

USA Today reported the plan on October 21 and said the foundation announced it the day before. The foundation's own release, dated October 22, coincided with a national summit on veteran housing that it convened with the National Housing Conference.

What will the new money pay for?

Mostly housing. The release names three kinds of new grants:

• Removing rental barriers. The Landlords, Organizations, and Veterans Engagement (LOVE) Fund with Open Doors Atlanta, and the U.S.VETS Master Lease Program, which cover costs such as security deposits and application fees or lease units directly from property owners.
• Prevention and permanent housing. Repairs to transitional housing and renovations of permanent supportive housing, meaning housing paired with services for formerly homeless veterans, through partners such as Operation Homefront and Community Solutions.
• Alternative models. Purple Heart Homes' modular homes for senior and housing-insecure veterans.

The release does not say how much each partner will receive or how the $1 billion will be spread across the years to 2032. USA Today also described a program in which Meals on Wheels volunteers identify older veterans' homes that need repairs.

"If you just put a person in a house, for many, they'll end up homeless again because they can't maintain that," Erin Izen, the foundation's executive director, told USA Today. "Wraparound services are critical."

How big is the problem?

About 32,500 veterans were homeless on a single night last year, roughly 5% of the homeless population, USA Today reported, citing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The foundation's release puts the figure at nearly 33,000 and says more than 2.75 million veterans live in inadequate housing.

The foundation says it has invested more than $650 million in veteran causes since 2011, improved more than 70,000 veteran homes and facilities, and "contributed to" a more than 50% drop in veteran homelessness over 15 years. That is its own framing; the release does not separate its role from that of federal programs. Rosanne Haggerty, founder and CEO of Community Solutions, credited "unprecedented collaboration between federal programs, state leaders, local providers, and veteran organizations," USA Today reported.

What can other funders take from it?

The mix leans on repairs, rent guarantees and master leases, not only new buildings. In our view, paying down the barriers to getting housed can matter as much as paying for units. Donors giving to veterans causes should also check how each group is organized, since not every veterans group is a 501(c)(3). For a local model built on flexible money, see Houston's three-year homelessness program.