HUD AND VA LAUNCH $15 MILLION DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM TO PREVENT VETERAN HOMELESSNESS
New effort to benefit homeless prevention programs near MacDill Air Force Base

MIAMI - In an effort to prevent homelessness among veterans, primarily those returning from the wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today announced that both agencies will invest a combined $15 million in five selected communities near military installations. The Tampa area will receive $3 million. The HUD and VA grant funding is intended to provide housing assistance and supportive services to veterans who might otherwise be living in
homeless shelters or on the streets.

Under the new Veterans Homelessness Prevention Demonstration Program (VHPD), existing HUD grantees or 'Continuums of Care' located near the following military installations will each receive $2 million: MacDill Air Force
Base in Tampa, Florida; Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California; Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas; Fort Drum in
Watertown, New York; and Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington. In addition, VA medical centers in the following areas will each receive $1 million: Tampa, San Diego, Dallas, Syracuse, New York; and American Lake
in Washington. For more info, go to the VHPD website
(http://www.hudhre.info/index.cfm?do=viewWhatIsNew#wn104)

"The men and women who serve our nation deserve better than a life on the streets when they return home," said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. "These grants represent a first step toward designing the best interventions
possible so that we can prevent homelessness for those heroes who sacrificed so much for us. It is also another
step forward toward reaching President Obama's goal of preventing and ending homelessness in all its forms."

VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki added, "While usually the strongest and most resilient of Americans, Veterans still represent a disproportionate share of America's jobless, homeless, depressed, substance abusers, and suicides. Nowhere is our obligation to our citizens, and to our Veterans who have defended our Nation, more important, more visible, or more necessary than in our commitment to prevent and end homelessness."

"Veterans returning to the Tampa area will have a better chance to find supportive services while they and their families readjust to a new life after their heroic service," said HUD Regional Administrator Ed Jennings, Jr. "By
providing access to stable, affordable housing and medical facilities near the MacDill Air Force Base, our deserving veterans will find help to prevent homelessness for them so that they can concentrate on training for new jobs."

Through this combination of housing, health care and employment services provided through the U.S. Department
of Labor, VHPD is designed to explore innovative early interventions to help prevent veteran homelessness, targeted to service members returning from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The three-year grants announced today will help the five identified communities or Continuums of Care to use and track client-level data provided by the VA and U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to target veterans who meet the eligibility criteria. VA will act as the primary liaison to the grantee and will provide eligible Veterans with access to
VA health care and benefits. HUD funds will provide short- or medium-term rental assistance, including security deposits, utility payments and case management. In addition, the program will offer community-based supportive services appropriate for veterans and their families, including child care and family services.

VHPD is also intended to improve the understanding of the unique needs of veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. HUD anticipates that it will take approximately ninety (90) days from the date these grant agreements are signed for selected grantees to be able to identify and serve veteran individuals and/or families who qualify for assistance under VHPD.

VHPD also supports the Obama Administration's far-reaching and ambitious strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness. Last month, HUD and 18 other federal agencies unveiled Opening Doors, an unprecedented federal strategy to end veteran and chronic homelessness by 2015, and to end homelessness among children, families, and youth by 2020.

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HUD's mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes: utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination; and transform the way HUD does business. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.