NCHV Executive Director Boone Announces Resignation

Washington, D.C. – Linda Boone, Executive Director of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV) since 1996, has announced that she will resign from the organization's top administrative post on August 1 to pursue other professional interests. A special committee consisting of NCHV Founders and current members of the Board of Directors has begun a national search for candidates to consider for appointment as her successor.

Boone was serving on the NCHV Board of Directors when she was appointed executive director in April 1996. Since then the organization has grown from a handful of members to nearly 250 community-based organizations, government agencies and businesses providing supportive services to more than 150,000 homeless veterans and their families every year. The organization's membership currently represents 46 states and the District of Columbia.

Boone spent the first 20 years of her career in the high technology manufacturing environment before developing her own consulting and training business, working with multi-million dollar corporations to develop competitive management practices.

Her involvement with veteran issues began in 1969 as a volunteer in her local community. Her advocacy for homeless veterans began in 1990 after meeting veterans living under a boardwalk near her home in Southern California. She went on to serve as the National President of the one million-member American Legion Auxiliary. During her administration, the organization contributed 10 million volunteer hours and $20 million to more than 11,000 communities worldwide.

Boone is recognized as one of the nation's foremost authorities on homeless veteran issues, and has had a significant impact on the development of and increased funding for many of the federal homeless veteran programs in existence today. She has frequently testified about homeless veteran issues before Congressional and Executive committees in Washington, D.C., and has presented workshops to improve and expand the availability of supportive services for homeless veterans in every part of the country.

The hallmark of her tenure at NCHV was helping to draft and ensure passage of the Homeless Veterans Comprehensive Assistance Act of 2001, which, if fully implemented, will provide nearly $1 billion for the nation's homeless veteran service providers and their assistance programs.

Under her guidance, NCHV has been at the forefront of campaigns to restore mental health services to veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs, to provide comprehensive and mandatory Transition Assistance Program services to all men and women separating from the military, and to strengthen interagency cooperation in providing services to all homeless people, with a fair share of resources dedicated to veteran-specific programs.

In 2003, due to her expertise and diligence in the campaign to end homelessness among veterans, NCHV was awarded $850,000 in grants from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Labor to provide technical assistance to homeless veteran service providers throughout the nation. NCHV received a two-year grant by the Department of Veterans Affairs to continue that work in September 2005.

Boone plans to marry this summer and will move to Delaware, where she will remain active in support of initiatives to help homeless veterans while advancing her career in organizational management.

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