Fresno leaders gather at summit to end veteran homelessness

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The needs of homeless veterans took center stage Friday in Downtown Fresno.

Experts in veterans affairs, jobs and mental health gathered at American Legion 509 for the Homeless Veterans Summit.

The event was hosted by Fresno County Supervisor Henry Perea with a goal to strategize solutions on the issue of homeless veterans.

The group discussed ways to improve housing opportunities, veteran-friendly hiring practices as well as identifying resources in mental health and substance abuse treatment.

"We have to make sure that we are doing everything we can to make sure that they have the proper housing," Perea explained. "That their families are stable if they have problems with post-traumatic stress disorder that we provide the services that they need, that we help reintegrate them into the community."

Perea says there were many take-away's from the day's meeting. Among them, the need to implement a way to identify veterans in hospital emergency rooms.

Identifying them would help trigger referrals to other services available to them.