VA program boosts funds for homeless veterans in Longview
Thursday, July 17, 2008 11:30 PM PDT
By The Daily News
Printable version
E-mail this articleSome homeless veterans in Longview will get a place to sleep under a Department of Veterans Affairs program, U.S. Sen. Patty Murray announced this week.
Murray, D-Wash., said the VA will begin to distribute funding for homeless veterans in Seattle, Longview and Spokane under its Homeless Providers Grant & Per Diem Program. The program makes funding available to public and private nonprofit organizations that assist homeless veterans.
“Our veterans have served the nation with honor, and they deserve to live in a safe and dignified manner when they come home,” Murray said in a written statement. “That’s why we need to work to support the organizations that are personally involved in getting veterans into transitional housing facilities.”
The three facilities in Washington will receive the per diem program funding of $33 per day, per veteran. The funding is immediately available to help the following organizations:
• Longview Housing Authority, which is eligible for per diem payments for transitional housing that will provide 20 beds for homeless veterans;
• The Salvation Army, Seattle, funded for 24 beds;
• Pioneer Human Services, Spokane, funded to provide 35 beds.
Veteran’s homelessness
According to a 2006 report by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, Washington had 6,800 homeless veterans, or about 1 percent of the veterans in the state. There are an estimated 1,200 veterans on the streets on any night in King County alone.
• The VA estimates that over the course of the year, approximately 337,000 veterans experience homelessness.
• A report from the National Alliance to End Homelessness found that veterans make up 26 percent of the U.S. homeless population, although they make up only 11 percent of the civilian adult population.
Source: Office of U.S. Sen. Patty Murray
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