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Every night in the U.S., nearly 40,000 veterans face the prospect of sleeping in a shelter or on the streets, according to national statistics. But the Society of American Military Engineers’ Portland Post is now looking to help reduce that number in the metro area.

The Portland Post plans to this year host a concert to raise money to assist homeless vets and hopes to support groups like Transition Projects, which helps homeless residents. A representative of the group last month addressed approximately 50 SAME members during a luncheon.

鈥淭oday was our first introduction into ways we might be able to help,鈥� Tony Roos, president of SAME’s Portland Post, said during the luncheon. 鈥�(Transition Projects’) mission really matches our own.鈥�

Amethyst Hoos, Transition Projects’ supportive service coordinator for veterans, told SAME members that a military discharge other than honorable can be one of the biggest challenges for homeless veterans. As long as a veteran has at least one day of active duty, he or she is eligible to receive services from groups like Transition Projects. Outreach efforts to those veterans go a long way toward reducing the overall homeless population, according to Hoos.

鈥淎 lot of our programs are for folks that maybe don’t have an honorable discharge,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t really opens it up to maybe serve some of our folks that maybe aren’t receiving benefits.鈥�

Both state and federal programs have made a considerable dent in the area’s population of homeless veterans. Multnomah County’s number of homeless veterans dropped from more than 1,000 in 2014 to fewer than 100 in 2016, largely due to efforts by groups like Transition Projects.

鈥淭his program has been in Portland for about six years,鈥� Hoos said. 鈥淣ow we are seeing the people who are chronically homeless who have been on the street three years or more.鈥�

Homeless veterans often are dealing with difficulties such as post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries and readjustment to civilian life. Supportive Services for Veteran Families is a nationwide outreach program that provides services with as few hurdles as possible.

鈥淥ur philosophy is housing first,鈥� Hoos said. 鈥淲e don’t require you to have a job first or be clean and sober before we help. We don’t have a lot of hoops for people to jump through.鈥�

There are challenges to the progress that has been made reducing the number of homeless veterans. Funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development‘s VASH program, which provides housing vouchers for veterans, has been cut.

鈥淭his year, we were pretty dismayed to find out they wouldn’t be issuing new vouchers; they would only be sustaining current vouchers,鈥� Hoos said.

Architecture, engineering and construction companies can help counteract some of those cuts by hiring more veterans, Hoos said.

鈥淭hat veteran employment piece is not as defined as we would like it to be,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat is a piece that our veterans really need.鈥�

Many veterans learn skills in the military that are directly applicable to positions within architecture, engineering and construction companies.

鈥淲e as an industry can’t fix that problem, but we can be part of the solution,鈥� said Sal Nodjomian, SAME’s national president. 鈥淲e have a dearth of skilled people in the industry.鈥�

Nodjomian encouraged SAME members to reach out to veterans and try to lower barriers to life improvement.

鈥淚 get it,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e are all busy. If you only have 30 minutes to give, use it to help knock that last barrier down.鈥�