The Call of Duty

YAKIMA - Chuck Austin knows more than a thing or two about the call of duty. As a U.S. Marine he honorably and bravely served our nation in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, doing what, Tim Gatton, the commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 370 in Yakima Washington, told The Herald, (www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/long-awaited-project-to-house-veterans-breaks-ground-in-yakima/article_13e7be2e-ca29-5bb1-a85c-8c89c0cc5fad.html) "needed to be done" for "the Marine to his left and his right, never seeking recognition."

As an active member of VFW Post 379 he's probably also had more than a few conversations with vets about the challenges they've faced in transiting back from life in the military to life as a civilian. Challenges like homelessness, a situation in which, the County's January 2019 point-in-time count (www.commerce.wa.gov/serving-communities/homelessness/annual-point-time-count) of the homeless reported, 32 veterans found themselves.

All of which was reason enough for Chuck Austin to join U.S. Senator Patty Murray, Washington state Representatives Chris Corry and Bruce Chandler, Yakima Housing Authority executive director Lowel Kreuger and others on August 7^th to ceremonially break at the site the former U.S. Marine Reserve Armory at 1702 Tahoma Avenue for an affordable housing project at 1702 Tahoma Avenue for veterans, Kreuger told KIMA-TV, (https://kimatv.com/news/local/community-leaders-break-ground-at-veteran-housing-center-in-yakima) "that have given us so much for our freedoms," but today are homeless or at risk of it.

The Authority first proposed the project in 2016 and in early 2017 HUD approved (www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/yakima-housing-authority-gets-ok-to-use-armory-for-homeless/article_3429c054-e2c7-11e6-968f-1b8751ef9b3f.html) the Authority's to turn what the 4-acre, 4-building complex that had stood vacant for more than four years that been declared "excess" Federal property (www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/11/18/2016-27561/federal-property-suitable-as-facilities-to-assist-the-homeless) into housing for homeless vets. All in all, Kreger told KIMA-TV, "it really made sense for us to re-purpose it."

Since then, he explained to The Herald, (www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/long-awaited-project-to-house-veterans-breaks-ground-in-yakima/article_13e7be2e-ca29-5bb1-a85c-8c89c0cc5fad.html) "it's been a long slog to get to this point." Especially identifying the fund to cover the $17 million price-tag. Fortunately, thanks to the Washington State Housing Finance Commission, the Washington Department of Commerce, the City of Yakima, Banner Bank, the Enterprise Housing Fund, Impact Capital and Low Income Housing Tax Credits, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines and the Washington Legislature, construction can proceed. Pacific Power also has awarded the project to solarize it.

The Authority also plans to use HUD Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Vouchers to insure its 27 one- and two-bedroom and 14 studio apartments remain affordable to eligible veterans. That's welcome news since, with rising rents and a low rental vacancy rate, it's been hard for veterans to make use of the subsidy in Yakima's private marketplace.

When construction is completed and the ribbon is cut in the summer of 2020, the new facility will be named Chuck Austin Place Veterans Supportive Housing and Services Center. It's "great," said VFW post commander Gatton, "great that we have the opportunity to honor a lifetime of service in naming this facility after a great American."

Chuck Austin Place will help make sure, Senator Murray said at the groundbreaking, "That no one who signed up to serve our country is ever forced to sleep on the streets." It is, she argued, "our duty to have your back," just as it was Chuck Austin duty to have the backs of "Marine to his left and his right" in World War II, in Korea and yet again in Vietnam.

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