FHIP Agency Helps Resolve Veterans Village Controversy in Omaha

In September 2010, the regional Veterans Administration (VA) health system and Volunteers of America (VOA), a nonprofit organization headquartered in Sioux Falls, SD, announced a cooperative project to build a 100-unit apartment building with supportive services for disabled homeless veterans. The proposed Veterans Village met with immediate and intense opposition from neighborhood groups who feared that the development would create problems with traffic and crime. The City feared that this opposition could jeopardize the approval of zoning variances needed for the development to advance.

At the first sign of neighborhood opposition, HUD's Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) agency in Omaha, Family Housing Advisory Services (FHAS), Inc., began to work with the VA, VOA, City and neighborhood groups to resolve the controversy and move the housing project forward. FHAS also worked with City Council members to obtain the needed zoning variances approvals, thus ensuring that there were no further or future violations of the Federal Fair Housing Act.

In the end, the developers agreed to reduce the number of units from 100 to 75 and the Omaha City Council voted unanimously to approve the replat needed to build the $20 million project. As a result, 75 homeless veterans will
move into supportive housing in the spring of 2012. FHAS was able to help HUD achieve its goal to end homelessness and substantially reduce the number of families and individuals with severe housing needs. The agency also advanced HUD's fair housing mission by increasing access to affordable housing that is free from discrimination. A representative from the Department of Veterans Affairs, Mental Health and Homeless Services wrote to FHAS that its work "tremendously helped us achieve where we are today."

This is an excellent example of reinforcing the principles of partnership, providing quality affordable housing opportunities in a broad range of communities and assisting our homeless veterans with housing and support services.

Homeless Information for Nebraska can be found on HUD's website.