On Oct. 15, Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell announced a challenge to end veteran homelessness by 2015.

The challenge was announced following nationwide and city efforts to provide stable housing for all veterans currently without a residence.

"As a veteran myself and as an American, I believe we owe a debt to those brave men and women, frankly a debt that can never be repaid, and we must address this issue," Leffingwell said.

Veterans make up 9 percent of the homeless population in the country, Leffingwell said. According to a recent study by Austin's Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, or ECHO, there are 176 homeless veterans living in Austin, a 66 percent decrease from the count in 2011.

The best way to go about solving the issue is for the city to partner with and support nonprofit groups, Leffingwell said. If not, a large financial burden would befall Austin, he said.

"The city of Austin's role is to support them and to provide seed money," Leffingwell said. "The reason I've consistently supported that is I believe if they didn't do it, if they didn't exist, somebody would have to or we'd have a huge, big problem that would wind up in our lap and cost us a lot more at the end of the day."

Partnerships with Veterans Affairs, the Housing Authority of the city of Austin, landlords and local agencies have already helped 400 veteran families find stable housing, according to a news release.