HUD & VA PROVIDING 540 MORE HOMELESS VETS IN IDAHO, OREGON & WASHINGTON STATE WITH RENTAL VOUCHERS
Today's awards will mean 3,238 homeless veterans in Idaho, Oregon & Washington will have place to call home

SEATTLE - Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Eric K. Shinseki and HUD Northwest Regional Administrator Mary McBride announced today that HUD will provide an additional 540 HUD Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD VASH) rental vouchers to provide homeless veterans in Idaho, Oregon and Washington state with a permanent, affordable place to call home.

The 540 vouchers - backed by $2,926,600 in annual HUD rent supports - awarded today are over and above the 2,698 VASH vouchers awarded in Idaho, Oregon and Washington in prior funding rounds and part of a HUD-VA announcement today awarding a total of 8,635 HUD VASH vouchers nationwide. Previously HUD has awarded 165 VASH vouchers in Idaho, 928 in Oregon and 1,605 in Washington.

"Our veterans have answered the call of duty. That's why our nation has its own duty - to help homeless servicemen and women rejoin the very communities they have given so much to protect," said Donovan. "These grants make it possible to help more veterans obtain housing, bringing us steps closer to our goal of ending veteran homelessness by 2015."

"These HUD-VASH vouchers are a critical resource to accomplish our shared goal of ending Veterans' homelessness in 2015," Shinseki said. "With the continued support of President Obama, Congress, and our community partners, we will end homelessness among Veterans and provide these brave men and women with the earned care and benefits that help them live productive, meaningful lives."

"When our soldiers and sailors come marching home, we should make sure they have one instead of being forced to live on the streets," said McBride. "HUD VASH vouchers provide exactly that."

Housing authorities in Idaho, Oregon and Washington awarded VASH vouchers today include:

The grants announced today are part of $75 million appropriated this year to support the housing needs of homeless veterans. Local public housing authorities provide rental assistance to homeless veterans while nearby VA Medical Centers (VAMC) offer supportive services and case management. This is the first round of the 2013 HUD-VASH funding. HUD expects to announce more HUD-VASH funding this summer.

VAMCs work closely with homeless veterans then refer them to public housing authorities for these vouchers, based upon a variety of factors, most importantly the duration of the homelessness and the need for longer term more intensive support to obtain and maintain permanent housing. The HUD-VASH program includes both the rental assistance the voucher provides and the comprehensive case management that VAMC staff provides.

Veterans participating in the HUD-VASH program rent privately owned housing and generally contribute no more than 30 percent of their income toward rent. VA offers eligible homeless veterans clinical and supportive services through its medical centers across the U.S., Guam and Puerto Rico.

The supportive housing assistance announced today is provided through the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program which combines rental assistance from HUD with case management and clinical services provided by VA. Since 2008, a total of 48,385 vouchers have been awarded and 42,557 formerly homeless veterans are currently in homes because of HUD-VASH.

Donovan and Shinseki announced this additional support for homeless veterans in an address to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans Annual Conference today in Washington. Find out how much of this assistance will help homeless veterans in your area on HUD's website.

HUD-VASH is a critical part of the Obama Administration's commitment to end Veteran and long-term chronic homelessness by 2015. Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness (www.usich.gov/PDF/FactSheetVeterans.pdf) serves as a roadmap for how the federal government will work with state and local communitiess to confront the root causes of homelessness, especially among former servicemen and women. HUD's annual "point in time" estimate of the number of homeless persons and families for 2012 found that veteran homelessness fell by 7.2 percent (or 4,876 people) since January 2011 and by 17.2 percent since January 2009. On a single night in January 2012, 62,619 veterans were homeless.

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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. You can also follow HUD on Twitter at @HUDnews or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/HUD, or sign up for news alerts on HUD's News Listserv.

VA is the federal government's second-largest cabinet office. Secretary Shinseki has outlined three key priorities for the department: increase Veteran access to VA services and benefits, eliminate the disability claims backlog, and end Veteran homelessness. VA provides health care to more than 6 million people each year, in 91 million outpatient visits and 960,000 hospitalizations. This year, VA will provide over $1 billion in specialized homeless program funding, more than $58 billion annually in disability pay and pensions to 4.5 million Americans, $10 billion in educational assistance, $1 billion for home loans and $2.6 billion for life insurance. More information about VA is available at www.va.gov.