Supposedly Entractable Problem News Today

[ applause ] >> thank you. thank you. well, sounds like all of you are here for the same reason, so thats great. lets talk. >> general eric shinseki, secretary of veterans affairs, speaking on november 3rd, 2009, addressing a national summit of veterans and veterans service providers to talk about ending the problem of u.s. military veterans being homeless, which kind of sounds like the equivalent of a summit on world peace, right? or trying to end illness or something. i mean, its a goal that n...

Entrenched, that complexly human ever be the kind of problem that has an end? well, it starts by figuring out that it is a problem of a definite size, it is not an infinite thing. >> the work goes on for 200,000 men and women who wore the uniform of the united states of america, proud veterans who go to sleep every night under bridges or in shelters or on grates. >> john edwards dropping out of the race for the democratic nomination for president in 2008. and there was a brief kerfuffle at the t...

Officer made a big, unwieldy public promise. >> ladies and gentlemen, my name is shinseki, and i am here to end veteran homelessness. [ cheers and applause ] thank you. thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you. thank you. well, sounds like all of you are here for the same reason, so thats great. lets talk. >> general eric shinseki, secretary of veterans affairs, speaking on november 3rd, 2009, addressing a national summit of veterans and veterans service providers to talk about ending the...

Problem for a lot of these veterans, which is why their homelessness was called chronic, rather than intermittent. >> yeah, it is chronic homeless. in fact, the average veteran labeled chronically homeless in the city of phoenix had been on the streets for eight years. eight years. so, we provide them not just housing, although weve got to get them housing immediately, housing first, but we wrap around services. so, whatever ails them, whatevers causing their homelessness, be it mental health is...

In todays news, there is something much smaller in scale, but to the same effect, in a way, to the same effect of proving that things can be seen from a whole new angle, that unsolvable things are solvable. in todays news, no, it is not the earth rising for the first time for human eyes, but it is an american city that just proved that a problem could be solved, a problem could be solved that no american city has ever solved before. it seems like it cant be true, but it is true. it is a small th...

Definite size, it is not an infinite thing. >> the work goes on for 200,000 men and women who wore the uniform of the united states of america, proud veterans who go to sleep every night under bridges or in shelters or on grates. >> john edwards dropping out of the race for the democratic nomination for president in 2008. and there was a brief kerfuffle at the time over those remarks because a host on the fox news network, named bill oreilly, said he did not believe john edwards that there were ...

200,000 veterans. its not true on fox news, but it was true in america. and the new president-elected that year said that he wanted to get that problem fixed, and the new veterans affairs secretary said it would be a national priority. and along the way, in 2010, in one american city, in the city of phoenix, arizona, they did a census, almost a registry effort in their downtown, and they found that their citys share of the homeless veteran population in our country was 222 people, 222 veterans w...

Where you feel like at this snapshot now, at the end of the year, even just a little bit ahead of the schedule that you hoped for, that were in a snapshot moment where this problem right now is solved, but its likely to recur? how do you plan to make this a lasting solution? obviously, this was a long-term problem for a lot of these veterans, which is why their homelessness was called chronic, rather than intermittent. >> yeah, it is chronic homeless. in fact, the average veteran labeled chronic...

Great partner. president obama has made this a priority. hud and va have made this a priority. it was a priority of the stimulus act. a lot of the housing units that the homeless veterans have been housed in were the result of the stimulus act. it took additional resources by the city council, great partnerships with the business community here in phoenix, arizona, through the united way, a great partnership called project h-3, health, home and hope, a coalition of non-profits. when you would co...

But phoenix got there first. and so, yes, a supposedly entractable problem, a heartbreaking problem that has always seemed like it has no solution in some small ways, at least in some very focused places, it is solvable, and dedicated, good government work in an american city just proved it. merry christmas. joining us now is the mayor of phoenix, arizona, greg stanton. mr. mayor, thank you very much for being with us tonight. >> rachel, its an honor to be on. >> so, i oversimplified what you ha...