The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) this week announced the awarding of more than $14.5 million that will be distributed by public housing agencies (PHAs) across the country in an effort to house veterans.
The funds will be distributed by the PHAs through more than 1,400 HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers. While the highest concentration of vouchers are going to Tucson, Arizona; Philadelphia; and Spokane, Washington, the footprint covers a wide range of states, according to the list of awards.
“HUD is committed to ending veteran homelessness once and for all,” HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge said in an announcement. “These HUD-VASH voucher awards help us to reach that goal. We will continue to work with our local Veterans Affairs Medical Center partners at public housing agencies across the country so we can get veterans and their families off the streets and into affordable housing.”
Veteran homelessness is a chronic issue that VA Secretary Denis McDonough intends to eliminate. The vouchers are an important tool to accomplish that goal, he said.
“HUD-VASH has been one of the most effective tools in our toolkit, empowering VA and HUD to provide more housing and wraparound services to more homeless and at-risk Veterans than ever before,” McDonough said in a statement. “Together, we will not rest until Veteran homelessness is a thing of the past.”
The vouchers combine rental assistance from HUD with the individualized support many veterans need, including case management and clinical services provided by VA.
“Thanks to the joint efforts of HUD, VA, and the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), the number of Veterans experiencing homelessness has fallen by 4% since early 2020, and by 52% since 2010,” the announcement stated. “Additionally, VA and HUD partnered to permanently house more than 46,000 homeless Veterans in 2023, surpassing the calendar year goal by 22.5%.”
In total, than 110,000 HUD-VASH vouchers are being administered by more than 700 PHAs nationally, HUD reported. New HUD-VASH vouchers have been issued every year since 2008, and more than 81,000 of these vouchers are actively under lease by veteran recipients.
