INDExtra

94K HUD grant targets homeless vets

by Leslie Turk

The Lafayette Housing Authority has $94,000 to help local vets find permanent housing. The Department of Housing and Urban Development VA Supportive Housing Program, a joint effort between HUD and VA to move veterans and their families out of homelessness and into permanent housing, has awarded the Lafayette Housing Authority $94,000 to help area vets.

HUD provides housing assistance through its Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8) that allows homeless veterans to rent privately owned housing. And VA offers eligible homeless veterans clinical and supportive services through its health care system across the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.

From fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 2011, HUD has allocated funding to local public housing authorities to provide more than 37,000 Housing Choice Vouchers to homeless veterans, while VA has hired case managers to assist them in securing and maintaining permanent housing through intensive case management.

"The funding will directly benefit homeless veterans in South Louisiana by providing rental assistance under a supportive housing program for them," says U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany. "The award will be disbursed to the Housing Authority of the City of Lafayette due to its partnership with eligible VA medical facilities in the area. I am proud to see the city's housing authority playing a pivotal role in giving back to those who have already sacrificed so much for our country."