Noteboom The Law Firm

HUD to House 550 More Homeless Veterans

October 8, 2010 - The U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will subsidize local housing authorities to help house 550 homeless veterans in permanent, supportive housing. HUD is spreading $4.3 million over 19 states via their Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH), which is a collaborative effort between HUD, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and local housing authorities.

Both VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and President Obama have called upon the nation to end the homelessness that affects so many veterans. Sec. Shinseki made it his goal to end homelessness among veterans within 5 years from him taking office. President Obama's strategy calls for an end to long-term chronic homelessness among veterans by 2015.

This $4.3 million grant brings HUD's total investment to $70 million, which has subsidized 9,800 housing vouchers for 2010 alone. The housing vouchers are given to public housing agencies and VA medical centers will offer various supportive services to homeless veterans meeting the VA's standards for eligibility.

Public housing authorities work with VA medical centers to provide homeless veterans with the rental vouchers. The local housing authorities administering the HUD-VASH program work with VA case workers to locate adequate housing for the homeless veterans and determine eligibility for participation in the program.

Eligibility rests upon many factors such as:

• The amount of homeless veterans in the area;
• The location of the closest VA Medical Center; and
• If that medical center is able to provide individual case management.

Those veterans accepted into the HUD-VASH program will pay no more than 30% of their total income to cover their rent. They are allowed to rent privately owned housing and are generally not allocated to a specific area of town.