Posted on 07/26/2011 4:47:49 AM PDT by JohnBrownUSA
WASHINGTON – U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki announced today that HUD will provide $46.2 million to public housing agencies in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to supply permanent housing and case management for 6,790 homeless Veterans in America.
This funding, from HUD’s Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH), is a coordinated effort by HUD, VA, and local housing agencies to provide permanent housing for homeless Veterans. Read a complete local breakdown of the rental vouchers announced today.
“Over the past three years, HUD helped thousands of homeless Veterans find a permanent place to call home while VA provided medical treatment, case management and other services to address their specific needs,” said HUD Secretary Donovan. “We have no greater mission than to prevent and end homelessness, especially for those brave men and women who risked their lives to protect our nation.”
“This initiative will strengthen our ongoing efforts to eliminate Veteran homelessness by 2015 and improve quality of life for Veterans,” said VA Secretary Shinseki. “Working with our partners at HUD and in Congress, we continue to make good progress to reduce Veteran homelessness though much work remains. VA is committed to providing Veterans and their families with access to affordable housing and medical services that will help them get back on their feet.”
Veterans participating in the HUD-VASH program rent privately owned housing and generally contribute no more than 30 percent of their income toward rent. VA offers eligible homeless Veterans clinical and supportive services through its medical centers across the U.S., Guam and Puerto Rico.
(Excerpt) Read more at va.gov ...
Although the amount of vouchers being given out is way to inadequate to meet the rising number of homeless veterans, any help is better than no help.
Here's a breakdown by State as to the number of vouchers awarded for this year:
http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=HUD-VASH2011Chart.pdf
About time we started doing something for those who served our country, but hit hard times. There’s not much I like about this administration, but I can fully support this!
Bull I have never known a real homeless veteran that did not want to be that way.
I know of many veterans who were homeless and did not want to be that way.
Unfortunately, when you are a homeless vet, it seems like an insurmountable task to get the right information that can help you.
Hopefully, Freepers can help get the word out to homeless veterans that help is available for them.
Here’s the VA link to Homeless Veterans:
http://www.va.gov/homeless/
Here’s the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans:
Call 1-877-4AID VET (1-877-424-3838)
Sadly I have to concur with that whodat. We’ve tried to help a lot of homeless get off the streets, take a job and clean up their drug habits. The sad thing to see is there were very few genuinely needy homeless single men or women who wanted to change their life at all. Most wanted a hot meal and a place to do their laundry and bathe, but after that they hit the streets again.
These days there are single mothers and some single fathers looking for help, but they are the ones trying desperately to get off the streets and they make up only a tiny fraction of the people out there
I have meet several bum’s that claimed to be vets, but were claiming that falsely because it helped them get hand outs. I did meet a black guy, bum a few weeks ago, said he just got out of prison and wanted me to give him some money, then he said and I am a vet also. ///?????
If this video is true, we’re treating illegals better than our vets. Free everything. Watch it and be prepared to get sick.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fu6ok5ykyuQ&feature=youtu.be
If you live in the Tacoma area, please verify or debunk.
Hehehe Yeah, they have the sob story down pat. A couple of years ago when I was up in Chicago at the IMTS show there was a bum standing outside a Burger King panhandling for money to buy food. I took my son and daughter in, bought our meal, and as we left I went up and bought a $.99 whopper (coupon) and told the kids to watch what happened. The bum didn’t disappoint me, when I walked out and handed him the sandwich because he said he was hungry then walked away he turned and dropped it in the trash.
My kids got a good life lesson right then for the cost of a cheap hamburger. No matter how much it is, handing your hard earned cash over to anyone based on what they say or how they act is stupid unless you KNOW their need is genuine.
Whoa!!! There are two sides to this issue! My brother in law is a Viet Nam vet...He’s also one mean, ugly, over the hill druggie creep street person, sap sucker. When his father was dying in the hospital he set up a camp site in the hospital room, hoping to cash in when Dad closed his eyes for the last time. His mother had him forceably removed from the hospital..police and security guards!
You would not want this piece of work living in your neighborhood.
We Viet Nam era types are old enough we have long ago set our course in life, and a lot of these guys have already soaked the system for all it’s worth! (My husband and I are both vets.)
Sorry but this is more wasted taxpayer money. They don’t deserve a handout.
I don’t get it. Every military person contributes .50 cents a month to the Soldiers and Sailors home which was opened for this very purpose.
“”I have meet several bum’s that claimed to be vets, but were claiming that falsely””
I can see it ending up like the “black” farmers fiasco. There will be more “vets” than ever served! AND there will be community organizers to help them through the phony paperwork.
Actually it’s not a hand-out.
It’s Uncle Sam contractually fulfilling an obligation he made to take care of veterans after they left military service.
In exchange for this contract, the military service member agreed to sacrifice their life and limb for America.
Obviously you never signed on the dotted line.
Holy Cripes! I’m speechless!
If true, this is an outrage!
They live better than me!
That is it in a nut shell, my father living with me is homeless, could you give us some of the stash, and then he can go back to his own house he done put in his sons name. Just another scam.
This is the one group in America for whom I do not mind subsidizing their housing and education. Just a small and insufficient token of gratitude. I have an extended family member who spent a long time in the Army (Bosnia, Iraq) and then married a German girl. He is now living over there, and sad to say, the German government has done more for him than ours ever did.
Free housing for life?
Our vets deserve to be paid better while they’re serving and yes, have their service-related needs met afterward.
But I am suspicious of Barry’s interest in expanding government housing in any way possible. This could quite possibly end up as another debilitating government handout, where people are afraid to get off some form of the dole once they’re on it—and those who are instead paying their own way end up feeling like chumps not to take advantage of it.
What homeless vets?
The ones on drugs, or with severe mental problems? And why is a homeless vet more special than any other homeless bum?
My theory - eliminate support for the homeless.
I don’t believe these rental vouchers are for life. I believe there is a priority list that they use to determine who needs it the most, and then the renter must be compliant with social services to help them get on their feet and independent of the voucher.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.