"I'm living large now. You know? I'm living large," formerly homeless Army veteran Tony Jones told ABC News' Jonathan Karl with a smile.
ABC News first introduced viewers to Jones in December, when he was living in a makeshift tent on the Southeast side of Washington, D.C[1]. With the help of advocates at Miriam's Kitchen[2], an organization dedicated to ending homelessness, Jones w as able to end more than six years of homelessness after securing a voucher from the Veterans Administration to pay rent for an apartment.
"In the past two and a half years, we've housed 1,500 veterans in Washington, D.C.," Emily Buzzell, Jones's caseworker at Miriam's Kitchen said. "And we expect that we will be able to end veteran homelessness by the end of this year."
The District has seen success in combatting veteran homelessness because of a concerted effort involving federal and local governments working with private sector activists.
"I've got some beautiful friends. I've got some good people behind me," Jones said as he scanned his fully furnished apartment, surrounded by his neighbors and friends. As Jones stood smiling in the yard outside his hilltop apartment building, he gaz ed out at the city below.
"It's an awesome view," Jones said with pride. "On top of the world."
References
- ^ Washington, D.C (abcnews.go.com)
- ^ Miriam's Kitchen (miriamskitchen.org)
