HUD Louisville Field Offices Races to Help Veterans with Trifecta of Events

HUD staff drop off promotional materials for the HUD-VASH program in Louisville, Kentucky

HUD Louisville Office staff pictured from left to right: Pat Gidron (veteran, MF), Sonja Redmon (veteran, PIH), Jason Hare (veteran, MF), Steve Thomas (CPD), Georgia Turner (PIH), David Railey (veteran, FPM), Anne Roark (PIH), and Milton Suggs (veteran, MF).

Officials from the Department of Veteran Affairs recently reported the good news that the number of homeless veterans and those deemed at risk for homelessness is declining in Kentucky. The HUD staff in Louisville, Kentucky is working with community members to see that this trend continues by participating in events aimed to assist veterans. The first of which was a homeless veteran summit where local officials from various agencies and organizations met to discuss housing, employment, and mental health. Much of the discussion at the summit centered on strategies that are currently helping decrease the number of homeless veterans.

The second event included two veterans from the Office of Field Policy and Management and a staff member from the Office of Public Housing who took part in Louisville's recent 2011 Stand Down/Project Homeless Connect. The event presented an opportunity for agencies to provide a variety of resources that help veterans and homeless individuals obtain food, clothing, shelter, drug and alcohol counseling, medical treatment and other supportive services. Approximately, 570 homeless individuals, of whom 180 were veterans, received assistance. HUD staff provided information on assisted housing resources, including the HUD-Veteran Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) voucher program, as well as information on the Fair Housing Act and resources available to the homeless. The overall need and constant flow of visitors to the booth was at times overwhelming. However, the sincere appreciation witnessed made it quite a humbling experience for the staff.

Finally, a group of volunteers from the office, consisting mainly of veterans took part in the second "DASH for VASH" that staff has participated in this year. The event, which first occurred in April, is a local cross-programmatic initiative planned to inform local homeless veterans of available HUD-VASH vouchers. Employees from four different program divisions within HUD spent the day emphasizing that HUD-VASH voucher resources are available to homeless veterans by distributing promotional materials to a number of Louisville community centers, church soup kitchens, and shelters where the homeless veterans are likely to visit. All three events emphasized the importance that the HUD Louisville Field Office places on cross-program and cross-agency collaboration to assist our Commonwealth's veterans.

###