LOS ANGELES, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- At an event in Los Angeles on Saturday, the new Housing and Urban Development secretary, Julian Castro, said President Obama wants to end homelessness.

"President Obama has set a goal of effectively ending homelessness by the year 2020 and ending veteran homelessness by the end of 2015," he said. "The folks who have served our nation should never go homeless."


Los Angeles has the second highest number of homeless people in the country, after New York City, with 40,000 homeless individuals, according to the Los Angeles Times. Castro said the Obama administration has increased the number of rental vouchers available to veterans from roughly 20,000-30,000 to 75,000-80,000. He believes the administration can put veteran homelessness to an end with further assistance from Congress.