For nearly four years, Etoyi Ford woke up every day unsure where she would sleep that night. She lived in her car. She bounced between shelters. She parked at the far end of the lot before job interviews so that no one would see the blankets and belongings packed in the back seat. At 49, after a painful divorce, losing her job of 15 years, and surviving domestic violence, she found herself without a home and without hope.
Three weeks after moving into her new apartment at the Tunnel to Towers Atlanta Veterans Village, she said she stood in the middle of her living room and breathed — really breathed peacefully — for the first time in years. “I stood in the middle of the floor and cried. I thanked God. I kept saying, ‘This can’t be real.’ I finally feel safe.”
Etoyi Ford’s story reflects a national crisis, one that persists even amid progress. According to the latest United States Department of Veterans Affairs and United States Department of Housing and Urban Development data as of January 2024, roughly 32,882 veterans were experiencing homelessness nationwide…