Did you know Abilene, Texas is the first, and only city in all of this huge state of Texas to house all of its homeless veterans? It's truly astounding how many homeless veterans there are in this country. Men and women volunteer to serve and protect this country, they give their time and after separating, whether it's ETSing, retiring, or an honorable discharge, the transition back to civilian life is  for many.

Round of Applause For Abilene

There are many cities across the state of Texas making an effort and attacking this problem head on. One city in particular has done something that hasn't gotten much recognition - the city of Abilene. They have housed every single one of their homeless veterans. That is a remarkable achievement. The city of Abilene collaborated with different local agencies like the West Texas VA Healthcare System and came up with 100-day plan to get their homeless vets housed.

Youtube - Abilene Hope Haven, Canva
Youtube - Abilene Hope Haven, Canva
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The announcement was made back in October 2019. The objective was to provide these homeless events with housing. According to CNN, they did their due diligence by compiling data on Abilene's homeless vet population by canvassing the city and collecting this data. By doing this, it allowed the city to launch a successful campaign focusing on providing access to the best resources available educate. Providing them with emergency short-term shelter and long-term homes, was a goal set where getting them the systems that will help them, it leads to keeping them from experiencing homelessness again.

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Heading In The Right Direction

Per the U.S Department of Veteran Affairs, Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, Veteran homelessness is 5% of the population in Texas. The good news is that the country as a whole is seeing a decrease in Veteran homelessness. However, it is still a heartbreaking epidemic that requires hearts to fix.

Fingers Crossed Central Texas Doesn't Get A Repeat Of Last Years Winter

Where were you when Winter Storm Uri hit Texas the week of February 14th and 15th 2021?

The country was already dealing with the COVID crisis and then came another one.

According to weather.com, the storm produced damaging ice from the Northwest.
Texas Cities like Abilene and San Angelo had record snowfall. Beating records that were made back in the late 1800s.

In Austin a record 6.4 inches of snow was recorded at Austin - Bergstrom Airport, their heaviest snow in 72 years, since Jan. 30, 1949.

San Antonio had almost 3 inches of snow bringing them their heaviest snowfall since 1985, those nice people art Seaworld also saw 6 inches of snowfall.

Locally here in the Killeen- Temple area, streets, schools, and businesses were shut down and there were massive power outages. Not to mention a certain electric company going out of business due to the rates of customers skyrocketing!

It was a disaster!

But here we are a year later, we now have stories we can tell our grandkids about how the effects of Winer Storm Uri of 2021 had us all in a frenzy.

Here are some pictures that showcase the good and bad of the great Texas Snowstorm of 2021.

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