Once homeless and alone, Yvette Jones-Swanson is now a guiding light for thousands of veterans — putting roofs over their heads and proving that compassion can create a lasting legacy of hope. Here, Woman’s World shares her story.

On her first day working for the City of Chicago, Yvette Jones-Swanson was assigned to the department that licensed SROs — subsidized single room occupancy units for low-income residents. She’d never heard of SROs before, but the more she learned the more her heart ached.

Why didn’t anyone tell me about SROs back when I really needed them? she wondered.

In 1984, Yvette was disappointed when she received a medical discharge from the Army after a single year of service. She’d hoped the Army would provide her with an education, but it wasn’t meant to be.

So she enrolled in college and paid the tuition herself. But then her marriage crumbled. She tried to leave her abusive husband several times and even turned to the VA.

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Surely they can help me, Yvette thought, but she didn’t qualify for veteran benefits.

With nowhere else to turn, Yvette returned home — until she couldn’t bear it any longer. She spent months sleeping in her car, on trains and in building lobbies. The little money she earned went toward tuition. 

Finally, a diploma in hand, Yvette landed a job with the city helping landlords license their buildings for SRO subsidized housing. She excelled at her job, and it wasn’t long before a developer approached her.

“I have 600 low-income apartments to fill, and I’d like your help,” he said.

Yvette took the job and got to work. She arranged workshops to explain how subsidized housing worked. She enrolled in real estate school and began networking at the VA. 

“If you have veterans who need housing, I can help,” she offered, and it wasn’t long before all 600 units were occupied. But Yvette didn’t stop there. 

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Coast Guard veteran Thomas Wilson spent a year living in a storage unit. He had a VA housing voucher, but he couldn’t find a place he could afford that was also wheelchair accessible.

Yvette guided Thomas to a mobility program that would triple his voucher, and one day she called him, “Can you meet me downtown to sign a lease?”

Yvette had found Thomas a fully accessible, two-bedroom apartment on the 34th floor of a downtown high rise.

Yvette is a fixture at the VA hospital, still helping unhoused veterans find a decent place to rent — and these days, she also helps them buy homes.

James Shannon began attending Yvette’s workshops, where she helped him find a subsidized apartment. “Now, I’m finally ready to buy,” beamed the disabled Marine. 

Yvette helped James through the entire process, from applying for a GI loan to finding a place he could afford and brokering the transaction.

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” James told Yvette.

Now, Yvette hosts a YouTube channel, VetMentors Homeless Veterans USA, and she’s helped 5,000 vets find housing and more than 300 of them are now homeowners.

“Every unhoused veteran I help heals some of my own wounds,” she says. “My goal is to be the person I wished I’d been able to find when I need help!”