Financial Help Is On The Way For Philadelphia Homeless Veterans

WASHINGTON, May 31, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Local homeless veterans will receive financial help to find permanent housing. Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA), announced today the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) will receive a $349,362 grant to provide rental assistance for local homeless veterans. The grant from U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is part of a larger $60 million dollar award to local public housing agencies across the country to offer permanent supportive housing to homeless veterans.

The supportive housing assistance vouchers are provided through the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program.  Under the program, HUD and the VA work as a team to make the vouchers available.  HUD provides the rental assistance and the VA provides case management and clinical services to homeless vets.  In Philadelphia, PHA and the VA Medical Center will join forces to provide the assistance.

Congressman Chaka Fattah said, "We must do more for our service members who voluntarily put their lives on the line for our freedoms.  When our veterans return home, we must make sure they have a home to come to. The HUD-VASH program will help to make that a certainty."

On Monday, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, Congressman Fattah and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter will visit the residence of a former homeless veteran. That visit will be followed by a stop at Pathways to Housing PA – a veteran's homeless organization - to meet with veterans who are currently receiving the vouchers.

Under the HUD-VASH program, up to 30 percent of a veteran's income will be directed toward their lease.  The $349,362 grant to the Philadelphia Housing Authority will provide 50 vouchers for local homeless vets.

The Obama Administration has committed millions of dollars to end veteran homelessness by 2015. The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) drafted the nation's first comprehensive strategy to prevent and end homelessness. The plan, which has the support of the Administration and the Congress, puts the country on a path to end veteran's homelessness by 2015.  The proposal also plots a course for ending homelessness among children, family, and youth by 2020.

Congressman Fattah holds a seat on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs and Related Agencies.  The Subcommittee provides funding and oversight to ensure that all veterans receive the services they have earned as a result of their sacrifices and service to the nation.

SOURCE Office of Congressman Chaka Fattah