Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke speaks at The Chattanoogan hotel in this file photo.

IF YOU GO What: City meeting soliciting landlords and property owners willing to rent to veterans

When: 3 p.m. Thursday

Where: City Hall, 101 E. 11th St.

More information: Contact Heather Cook, the city's homeless program coordinator, at 423-643-7301 or hcook@chattanooga.gov.

Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke is looking for volunteers and landlords to help get local veterans housed.

"If you fought for our freedom you shouldn't have to fight to have a roof over your head," Berke said during a telephone conference week.

He's pushing to end veteran homelessness by the end of this year, though in 2014 he said he wanted to end homelessness for veterans in 2016.

Meanwhile, the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition reports nearly a 20 percent increase in the number of area homeless veterans this year compared to 2014.

To meet his new goal, Berke said housing officials need to house 18 veterans a month.

In the first two months of this year, the city's task force housed 20 veterans.

The biggest barrier to getting veterans into housing is finding landlords willing to rent to them, Berke said. Many veterans are eligible for housing vouchers but not all landlords are willing to take them.

The city asks landlords or property owners interested in housing veterans to meet at 3 p.m. on Thursday at City Hall.

Volunteers also are needed to help find veterans who qualify for programs, administer questionnaires to assess veterans' needs, and meet with landlords with concerns about renting to veterans.

Of the 55 people participating in the conference, nearly half committed to volunteering during the conference call.

Already, a task force has listed 67 homeless veterans by name and is meeting weekly to develop a housing plan for each of them. The number of homeless veterans in Chattanooga and surrounding counties increased from 67 in 2014 to 80 this year, according to the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition's 2015 Point-In-Time count. City officials say the number may have increased because more volunteers were on the streets to count veterans this year.

The effort to house those veterans is a collaboration among organizations like the Chattanooga Housing Authority, Chattanooga Community Kitchen, the Department of Veterans Affairs and Volunteer Behavioral Health.

Local retired Army Gen. B.B. Bell, a 39-year veteran, spoke during the call-in, encouraging more to get involved.

"I watched people go into battle for our country time after time. That commitment and sacrifice is something all Americans should not only be proud of, but should invest in," he said during Wednesday's conference. "This is a call to action. If there is any way you or your organization can help the city or the mayor house these veterans, give them a perspective of their future; thank them for their service by helping them in their hour of need."

Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman at timesfreepress.com or423-757-6431.