Finding homes for homeless Veterans in Rhode Island

Public Housing Authorities in the Providence VA Medical Center area recently received $217,928 to support 27 rental assistance vouchers through the Department of Housing and Urban Development and VA’s Supportive Housing program, known as HUD-VASH.

This brings the total number of vouchers in Rhode Island, Southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod to 436.

“We’re very proud of the strong partnerships we have with HUD, the State of Rhode Island and other organizations, such as Operation Stand Down Rhode Island, working together to ensure homeless Veterans get a place to call home,” said Dr. Susan MacKenzie, director of the medical center. “This joint effort is a critical part of our commitment to help those who sacrificed so much for us.”

“This…is…our commitment to help those who sacrificed so much for us.”

VA announced the award of $35 million in rental assistance vouchers to public housing agencies, known as PHAs. These vouchers will allow 212 PHAs across the country to provide permanent supportive housing for more than 4,000 homeless Veterans.

Army Veteran Anthony Berard receives a pneumonia vaccination from Madison Cote, nursing resident, during Rhode Island’s Stand Down Weekend. More than 50 nonprofit, state and federal agencies participated in the event which also offered Veterans a chance to enroll with VA health care. (Photo by Winfield Danielson)

The HUD-VASH program combines rental assistance vouchers from HUD with case management and clinical services provided by VA. Since 2008, more than 93,000 vouchers have been awarded and approximately 150,000 homeless Veterans across the country have been served through the program.

Nationwide, the vouchers have contributed to a 46 percent decline in homelessness among Veterans since the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness was launched in 2010.

In the HUD-VASH program, VA medical centers assess Veterans experiencing homelessness before referring them to local housing agencies for vouchers. Veterans participating in the program then rent privately owned housing and generally contribute no more than 30 percent of their income toward rent.

Visit http://www.va.gov/homeless/hud-vash.asp to learn more about HUD-VASH.

Winfield S. Danielson III is the Public Affairs Director at the Providence VA Medical Center.