Written By: BOSS Editorial
As a leading voice in coalitions and initiatives advancing supportive and affordable housing policy, Tori Lyon, CEO of Jericho Project, is often invited to events focused on homelessness. But an event she attended in 2004 stands out, as it involved a catalytic conversation that ultimately led to the launch of a life-changing program supporting veterans.
“I was seated next to leaders from the US Department of Veterans Affairs,” Lyon recalls. “Over lunch, I learned how many veterans, including people returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, were at serious risk of homelessness. That was the spark. I walked away thinking we cannot wait until this becomes a larger crisis. We need to build something veterans can rely on.”
When Lyon retired to her office, she began putting the initiative in motion that would eventually become the Jericho Project Veterans Initiative. Launched in 2007, the Veterans Initiative today provides over 700 veterans with homes and the support they need to heal from the wounds of war and reclaim their civilian lives with dignity and hope.
“Before 2007, Jericho Project was already serving veterans through our broader housing and services work,” Lyon says. “Veterans were part of our supportive housing and case management programs, and we had experience helping people stabilize, access benefits, and move toward employment. What the 2007 launch did was formalize and deepen our commitment. It allowed us to build veteran-focused housing and wrap veteran-specific supports around it, so that veterans were not navigating recovery and reintegration alone.”
Jericho Project’s Veterans Initiative is built around veterans’ unique needs
Jericho Project’s overall mission is to empower individuals and families experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity by providing housing and person-centered services to address social inequities. To that end, it utilizes over 700 units of supportive housing, which includes 80 single-adult and 60 family scattered-site apartments throughout New York City, as well as eight residences across Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Harlem.
Its veteran-focused residences include three veteran-dedicated supportive housing residences and a veteran Housing Access program that provides housing placement throughout New York City. The housing is uniquely designed to address the distinct needs of homeless veterans.
“Many veterans are carrying trauma, service-related mental health needs, complicated benefits issues, and in some cases barriers tied to discharge status,” Lyon explains. “In our veteran residences, services are designed with that full context in mind, including dedicated clinical care and connections to veteran-specific resources.”
Jericho Project’s veteran housing also provides a supportive community element to ease the transition out of homelessness. The element leverages the unique peer dynamic among people who have served in the military.
“Housing veterans together can create trust faster, reduce isolation, and reinforce accountability,” Lyon says. “It becomes a stable home, but also a place where people feel understood and can reconnect with purpose and community.”
Jericho Project complements housing assistance with mental health services
Jericho Therapy Program, known internally as JTP, is a core component of Jericho Project’s supportive services model and is designed to promote long-term stability, mental health, and overall well-being for program participants. The program is staffed by five licensed clinical social workers who provide trauma-informed, client-centered care to individuals across all Jericho programs. Services are available at no cost to participants and are integrated into the organization’s broader housing, workforce, and case management supports.
JTP offers individual counseling, crisis intervention, clinical assessments, and ongoing therapeutic support tailored to each participant’s goals and needs. Clinicians work closely with program staff to address challenges related to mental health, substance use, adjustment to housing, and barriers to independence, while maintaining strong clinical boundaries and confidentiality. The program emphasizes accessibility and continuity of care, ensuring that participants can engage in therapy regardless of their housing type, program enrollment, or financial circumstances.
By embedding licensed clinicians directly into Jericho’s service model, JTP strengthens the organization’s ability to support participants holistically. The program helps individuals build coping skills, process past trauma, and maintain stability as they move toward greater independence, reinforcing Jericho Project’s mission to provide lasting pathways out of homelessness.
“Housing alone does not resolve trauma, depression, anxiety, or substance use challenges that can follow military service and can be intensified by housing instability,” Lyon says. “By providing on-site mental health support and counseling, we help veterans build stability, strengthen coping skills, and remain connected to the goals they set for themselves.”
Jericho Project’s Employment Program empowers long-term stability for veterans
Stable employment is critical for those seeking to get off the streets and on with their lives. To help in that area, Jericho Project offers individualized employment, job readiness, and skills development support to its program participants.
The Jericho Veterans Employment Program (JVEP) provides veterans with counseling, resumé assistance, job interview preparation, and job retention services. It also includes computer literacy training to help veterans prepare for jobs in hybrid or remote workplaces.
“The Jericho Veteran Employment Program is designed to meet veterans where they are and move them toward real, lasting employment,” Lyon says. “Across our workforce programs in 2025, we received 192 veteran referrals, enrolled 117 veterans in workforce programming, and placed 58 veterans in jobs averaging $22.70 per hour. JVEP specifically enrolled 90 veterans and placed approximately 60 in new jobs, with participants earning an average of $22.55 per hour in 2025. We also track progress because employment is one of the strongest long-term stabilizers we have.”
Jericho Project provides veterans with a path forward
Dignity and direction are at the heart of Jericho Project’s Veterans Initiative. It seeks to communicate to veterans facing homelessness that they are not defined by a housing crisis and that they do not need to navigate their experience alone. All the elements of the Veterans Initiative come together to help get veterans off the street and move forward with stability, independence, and pride.
“Veterans are accustomed to mission, structure, and being part of something bigger than themselves,” Lyon says. “Homelessness strips that away. Our job is to help veterans regain their footing and rebuild a future that feels possible and worth fighting for. That means housing, yes, but also purpose found in employment, mental health support, reconnection to community, and a plan they can own.”