WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki has announced that 40 states will share more than $41.9 million in grants to community groups to provide 2,568 beds for homeless veterans this year.
"These grants wouldn't have happened without the extraordinary partnerships forged with community organizers," Secretary Shinseki said. "These investments will provide transitional beds to veterans who have served honorably, but for various reasons now find themselves in a downward spiral toward despair and homelessness."
The Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program provides grants and per diem payments to help public and nonprofit organizations establish and operate new supportive housing and service centers for homeless veterans.
The $41.9 million is broken into two categories. About $26.9 million will help renovate, rehabilitate or acquire space for 1,352 transitional housing beds. A second group of awards, valued at $15 million, will immediately fund 1,216 beds at existing transitional housing for homeless veterans this year. The awards will cover daily living costs based upon the number of homeless veterans being served in transitional housing.
A key component of VA officials' plan to eliminate homelessness among veterans within five years, the grants and per diem payments helped reduce the number of veterans who were homeless on a typical night last year to about 107,000 veterans within one year.
VA officials' strategy to eliminate homelessness among veterans is to implement a "no wrong door" approach, meaning veterans who seek assistance should find it in any number of VA programs, from community partners or through contract services.
Under the secretary's action plan to end homelessness among veterans, VA officials will continue to offer a full range of support necessary to end the cycle of homelessness by providing education, jobs, health care and counseling, in addition to housing. VA officials will increase the number and variety of housing options available to homeless veterans and those at risk, including permanent, transitional, contracted, community-operated and VA-operated housing. Most importantly, VA officials will target at-risk veteran populations with aggressive support intervention to try to prevent homelessness before it starts.
For more information, visit VA's National Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Office website at
www.va.gov/homeless. Additionally, VA has a national call center for homeless veterans at 877-424-3838 or
www1.va.gov/HOMELESS/NationalCallCenter.asp.