DelBene Praises New Funding for Washington’s Homeless Veterans

HUD Secretary Castro announced Washington’s First District will receive funding to provide housing for homeless veterans

WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 20, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — Congresswoman Suzan DelBene (WA-01) today praised Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Julian Castro’s announcement that the King, Snohomish and Skagit housing authorities will receive new funding to reduce veteran homelessness under the HUD-VASH program. The program helps homeless veterans become self-sufficient by combining rental assistance from HUD with case management and support services from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

“Today’s announcement is welcome news for veterans in our region who still aren’t getting the support they need,” DelBene said. “However, there is much more work to do. The cost of war is high and thousands of heroes across the country are struggling to put a roof over their heads. We must continue to support life-saving programs like HUD-VASH to ensure no servicemember returns home without a place to live.”

Castro visited Seattle on Monday to announce that nearly $750,000 is being allocated to King, Snohomish and Skagit housing authorities to help homeless veterans find a permanent place to call home. Nationally, the $65 million announcement will help more than 9,300 homeless veterans.

While veteran homelessness has dropped nearly 25 percent since 2010, more than 55,000 veterans still remain homeless today. To help end veteran homelessness, the Congresswoman sent a letter to the House Appropriations Committee in March requesting $75 million for the HUD-VASH program in fiscal year 2016, which would allow the program to reach 10,000 of our nation’s veterans next year.