March 28, 2024 8:06 AM
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VA announces hundreds of millions in grant funding to help homeless Veterans after new data shows an uptick in homelessness

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Northern Arizona VA diligently working with community partners to combat Veteran Homelessness Locally

The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced two grant opportunities that will help Veterans experiencing homelessness and advance the Biden-Harris Administration’s broader efforts to reduce homelessness:

  • Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Grants: Within the coming year, VA will award hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to organizations that help rapidly rehouse Veterans and their families, prevent the imminent loss of a Veteran’s home, or identify new, more suitable housing situations for Veterans and their families. The exact funding amount will be determined by VA’s budget.
  • Legal Services for Homeless Veterans and Veterans At-Risk for Homelessness GrantsWithin the coming year, VA will award more than $26 million in funds to organizations that help homeless Veterans with legal representation, assistance with court proceedings, defense in criminal cases related to homelessness, and more.

This announcement comes shortly after the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released the results of the 2023 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, the annual effort to estimate the number of Americans – including Veterans – experiencing homelessness. The data shows that on a single night in January 2023, there were 35,574 Veterans who were experiencing homelessness, a 7.4% increase over 2022. This uptick mirrors the increase in homelessness among all Americans, which increased by 12% over 2022.

Ending Veteran homelessness is a top priority for VA and the entire Biden-Harris administration. In total, the estimated number of Veterans experiencing homelessness in the U.S. has decreased by 52% since 2010 and by 4.5% since 2020.

“One Veteran experiencing homelessness will always be one too many – and we will do everything in our power to ensure that Veterans get the safe, stable housing that they deserve,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “These new grants are a critical part of that effort, empowering VA and our partners to provide more housing and wraparound services to more homeless and at-risk Veterans than ever before. Together, we will not rest until Veteran homelessness is a thing of the past.”

“Every American deserves a safe and affordable home. Like air, water, and food, housing is a basic human need required for the health of individuals, communities, and nations,” said U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Director (USICH) Jeff Olivet. VA is a critical part of USICH’s efforts to prevent and end homelessness. “The Biden-Harris administration’s plan calls on all parts of the federal government, as well as mayors, landlords, developers, and everyone involved to help us build a future where no one experiences the tragedy of homelessness and everyone has a safe and affordable home.”

From day one, the VA has taken aggressive action to combat Veteran homelessness. VA has permanently housed 38,847 homeless Veterans thus far in 2023, surpassing the calendar year goal to house 38,000 Veterans two months early.

The Northern Arizona VA Health Care System’s Homeless Veteran Program, along with its community partners, contributed to this national effort. Together, they housed 438 Veterans as of November’s data, already exceeding their target goal for the year by 125%.

“This success is a result of efforts built on the evidence-based ‘Housing First’ approach, which prioritizes getting a Veteran into housing, then provides the Veteran with the support they need to stay housed,” said Steve Sample, Northern Arizona VA’s Medical Center Director.

In Northern Arizona, there are a variety of services designed to house homeless Veterans. The VA’s Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) Program includes VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers that provide formerly homeless Veterans with subsidized housing and a wraparound, interdisciplinary case management team to address issues that may have contributed to homelessness. The program provides justice outreach services, employment services, health care services through the Homeless Patient Aligned Care Team, outreach, and transitional housing support. The VA also works closely with community partners to house homeless Veterans through a system called Coordinated Entry, where community agencies along with the VA regularly meet to coordinate efforts and ensure homeless Veterans do not fall through the cracks.

“Housing homeless Veterans comes with challenges, but this region has a network of highly skilled and dedicated workers who truly care about this mission,” said Jessica Taylor, Homeless Program Coordinator for the Northern Arizona VA. “We are also fortunate there are property managers in Northern Arizona who clearly care about our mission and helping homeless Veterans succeed.”

Looking ahead, the VA will continue to explore new avenues to house homeless Veterans and overcome housing barriers. One that will certainly make a difference in Northern Arizona is a supportive housing project set to break ground in 2024 on the VA’s Fort Whipple campus in Prescott. The 103-unit complex will provide guaranteed stable housing to generations of homeless Veterans and their families thanks to the VA’s collaboration with U.S VETS, Gorman & Company, and the Arizona Department of Housing.

For more information on the SSVF grant opportunity, visit here. For more information on the legal services for homeless Veterans grant opportunity, visit here.

For more information about VA’s comprehensive efforts to end Veteran homelessness, visit VA.gov/homeless.

About the Northern Arizona VA

Through its main campus in Prescott, along with Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) in Cottonwood, Flagstaff, Kingman, Lake Havasu City, and Anthem – with additional clinics in Tuba City, Page, Kayenta, Chinle, Holbrook and Polacca – the Northern Arizona VA provides services to approximately 34,000 Veterans over a catchment area of more than 65,000 square miles.

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