HUD To Give $15 Million to 5 Cities For Veteran Housing

July 30, 2010 - The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is helping Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Eric Shinseki meet his vision of eliminating homelessness among veterans. To help those veterans who have become homeless, HUD is dividing $15 million between 5 cities to be used to develop permanent housing solutions.  

The HUD grants will be given to 5 military communities. Because homelessness among veterans has been on a steady rise in recent years, HUD will give $2 million to these communities to be used in combating this sad phenomenon. The military communities who will receive the grants are:

• Camp Pendleton in San Diego;
• MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa;
• Fort Hood in Killeen;
• Fort Drum in Watertown; and
• Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma.

HUD is also going to give the grants to each base's VA Medical Center in the amount of $1 million for other generalized veteran health care needs. The Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration (VHPD) program is operated through HUD. This program provides varying levels of services to homeless veterans.

HUD's goal is to reach families attempting to transition and readjust. In the end, it is about ensuring this nation's veterans are treated as they should be treated given their sacrifices for this country.