HUD Participates in Johnson City-Washington County Veterans' Memorial Dedication

Congressman Phil Roe - District 1 TN; Ed Ellis, HUD Field Office Director; Steve Patterson (Director of Homeless Services at Mountain Home VA); and Steve Baldwin, Community Development Director, City of Johnson City.

On Friday, November 11, 2011 Ed Ellis, Knoxville Field Office Director, elected officials, and approximately 400 others attended the dedication of the Johnson City-Washington County, TN Veterans' Memorial. It is a permanent memorial to properly honor the 13,000 veterans who served our country from World War I to the present and future wars. The memorial is an effort to recognize those who sacrificed their lives for the cause of freedom.

This celebration capped two days of meetings and field trips Ellis participated in regarding Veterans' Day, and the efforts the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and HUD partners are providing to veterans. On Thursday, November 10th, Ellis along with representatives from the Veterans Affairs (VA); city of Johnson City; Kingsport Housing Authority; Eastern 8 Community Development Corporation (CDC); Horizon CDC; Frontier Health Transitional Housing/Treatment Facility; Fairview Housing; and Citizens Soldiers, Inc. toured housing for homeless veterans provided by HUD partners. Many of the partners, through the Housing Authorities of Johnson City and Kingsport are using HUD/VA provided Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers; Section 811; HOME; and other HUD funding to provide units and services.

Thursday afternoon Ellis, along with the housing providers, met with Congressman Phi Roe, 1st. District of TN, and his staff. Congressman Roe is a ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee. The hour long discussion centered on the current status of the VASH program; what was the count of the homeless veterans in the Tri-City area; what were the gaps in serving the veterans; and what could the Congressman's Office do to support the efforts.

Friday morning, November 11, Ellis met with members of the Appalachian Regional Coalition on Homeless (ARCH) to follow up on the meeting with Congressman's Roe, and the Thursday tour. The Coalition members expressed how pleased they were with the Congressman's willingness to listen, ask questions, and hear their concern about funding and the importance of "good case management" throughout the continuum of care process. The coalition expressed a desire to bring more VASH vouchers to the region. With Johnson City being the third largest Veteran Hospital in the U.S. the Coalition see a continued need to serve the veteran population.

Currently, HUD partners have utilized 63 of the original 95 VASH vouchers, with 9 individuals looking for units at this time. Vouchers are overseen by the VA Center in Johnson City.

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