Abstract
Efforts to prevent veteran homelessness in the United States have been ongoing for decades, yet thousands of veterans still face homelessness daily. This case study explores collaborative leadership efforts among nonprofit and government agencies aimed at preventing homelessness among veterans. The research question asks how nonprofit agencies serving homeless veterans in a rural southwest community describe their interagency collaborative practices. Interviews with agency leadership, observations of meetings, and documents of meeting minutes were analyzed for codes, categories, and themes. The findings revealed five themes. 1) Agencies serving homeless veterans in a rural southwest community have a shared mission of veteran homelessness prevention. 2) Agencies serving homeless veterans in a rural southwest community need a community-wide strategic plan. 3) Agencies serving homeless veterans in a rural southwest community have positive interactions. 4) Agencies serving homeless veterans in a rural southwest community are reactive. 5) Agencies serving homeless veterans in a rural southwest community have an elementary understanding of collaboration. Recommendations for positive change included making collaborative leadership an essential component for community-wide impact for agencies serving homeless veterans; agencies serving homeless veterans must enhance communication and data sharing and fully integrate the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS); and agencies serving homeless veterans must establish SMART performance measures for the Mayor’s Task Force.