U.S. Army veteran Isaiah Peace now has a home in South Minneapolis.

“Definitely, I felt like I could let go of my survival mode sort of mindset,” he says. “Being in a shelter, you’re not entirely sure what’s next.”

Peace, 22, says he was honorably discharged from the army in 2022.

Afterward, he struggled with alcohol addiction — and, for seven months, found himself living outside or staying in a shelter.

But now — with the help of Hennepin County and a U.S. Veterans Affairs voucher, he’s calling his apartment home.  

“Just take a moment to breathe and like realize this is part of a change,” Peace explains. “This is something new.”

Our visit with Peace comes as veteran homelessness is in the spotlight.

On Tuesday, Hennepin County and its partners say they’ve made a big impact on the number of veterans experiencing homelessness in the area.

“Today, we bring hope to all veterans who are going through the unimaginable experience of homelessness,” Taya Kaufenberg, Hennepin County’s senior social worker, told reporters.

The government says there are now sixty-nine veterans experiencing homelessness in Hennepin County, five of whom are unsheltered.

A drop from August of 2023, when 167 veterans were experiencing homelessness.

Kaufenberg says the work isn’t over.  

“That doesn’t mean there will never be another homeless veteran,” she notes. “It does mean we can serve every veteran who has served our country so that their experiences of homelessness will be rare, brief, and non-recurring.”

Catholic Charities now has thirty-four housing units, especially reserved for veterans in the Twin Cities.

Nineteen of those are in Hennepin County.

In the Catholic Charities Endeavors Residence, Johnny Brown Junior lives in one of the 137 apartments for people who need shelter.

Brown, 70 — was in the U.S. Navy, doing aircraft maintenance for three years in the early 1970s.

He’s lived in Catholic Charities apartments for three years after spending a year in a shelter.

Brown says the apartment is a much safer option.

“Peace of mind,” he says. “There is help and there is hope. When you get your own place, no problem, but when you go out, look out.”  

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS asked why the number of veterans experiencing homelessness is falling.

“It’s because the system got intentional about what it was trying to do,” explains Keith Kozerski, Chief Program Officer with Catholic Charities. “It organized the available resources.”

Recently, Hennepin County and groups like Catholic Charities started using case managers to connect veterans with services like rental assistance vouchers.

There’s now one-on-one counseling with caseworkers.

Additionally, the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority says it has administered 347 housing vouchers to veterans and their families.

That personal touch is making a difference for veterans, Kozerski says.

“It is stressful, it’s traumatic,” he notes. “And their re-entry into their neighborhoods isn’t always well thought out and planned and it can cause people to struggle.”    

For his part, Peace says now that he has a place to live, he’s hoping to get a job in retail sales.

A new beginning.

“Everything’s going to look a little different now, because you are stationary, you have a place to go,” Peace declares.