VA has plans for homeless veterans

VA to lay out plan to end veterans’ homelessness in 3 day summit

Recieved from VA–Homeless Veteran

Today, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki will lay out his plan to end homelessness among Veterans within five years at the National Summit on Ending Veteran Homelessness. The first of its kind summit is drawing more than 1,200 homeless Veteran service providers and advocates from federal and state agencies, faith-based and community service providers and the business community. Media advisory attached and below.

This summit, from Nov. 3-5, will be an unprecedented gathering of government, business and community service providers. Secretary Shinseki will address the group at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C. This is an opportunity to build support for combating homelessness and to increase community partnerships.

In his address, Secretary Shinseki will be outlining his framework for the plan to get Veterans off the streets, including preventing Veterans from becoming homeless in the first place. Preventative measures include discharge planning for incarcerated Veterans re-entering society and a national referral center to link Veterans to local service providers. The Post-9/11 GI Bill will help steer folks into classrooms and off the streets. Secretary Shinseki will also be speaking about VA’s partnership with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the HUD-VASH program. Through this program, HUD provided 10,150 HUD-VASH housing vouchers for homeless Veterans in 2008, and the program is expanding to get more Veterans off the streets in 2010. Of course, VA will continue expanded efforts to provide education, jobs, health care and housing.

As a note: over 24 percent of homeless are veterans, male and female and children

Jerald Terwilliger
National Chairman
American Cold War Veterans, Inc.