Noteboom The Law Firm

VA Financial Grant Used For Transitional Housing for Homeless Veterans

March 16, 2010 - Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Eric Shinseki has had a goal since the first day of his position: end veteran homelessness within 5 years. According to Secretary Shinseki, eliminating homelessness will give those veterans more secure, distinct, and self-respecting lives. Secretary Shinseki knows there is no one right way to meet this goal so he is resolute in using every available tool in the VA's tool belt: 

• Health care;
• Education;
• Job training and counseling; and
• Safe housing.

In an attempt to help meet Secretary Shinseki's goal, the VA will apportion $39 million through funding to local providers and will be broken into 2 categories. The money will be used to finance approximately 2,200 new transitional housing beds.

The first category will use $24 million of the total disbursement to either modernize or restore enough space to create approximately new 1,000 transitional housing beds. These grants will focus on 2 things:

• Homeless women; and
• Housing on tribal lands.

The second category, using the other $15 million in grants, will be used to support those providers who have already established adequate transitional housing. Approximately 1,200 new beds are expected to be created with this grant. The VA will use per diem grants based on the amount of homeless veterans being provided transitional housing at a given time.

The VA has 14,000 transitional beds currently available or coming available. On a typical night, approximately 107,000 veterans are homeless and this is the tragedy Secretary Shinseki plans on eliminating.