from the Florida Realtor News
MIAMI – June 10, 2013 – About 915 homeless veterans living in Florida will soon find a permanent place to call home.
U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Eric K. Shinseki announced that HUD will provide $60 million to local public housing agencies across the country to provide permanent supportive housing to homeless veterans, many of whom are living with chronic disabling conditions. Florida will receive $6,000,620 to assist its homeless veterans.
The HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program provides the assistance, which combines rental help from HUD with case management and clinical services provided by VA. Since 2008, a total of 48,385 vouchers have been awarded and 42,557 formerly homeless veterans are currently in homes because of the program.
“Our veterans have answered the call of duty,” says Donovan. “That’s why our nation has its own duty – to help homeless servicemen and women rejoin the very communities they have given so much to protect.”
The grants are part of $75 million appropriated this year to support the housing needs of homeless veterans. Local public housing authorities provide rental assistance to homeless veterans while nearby VA Medical Centers (VAMC) offer supportive services and case management. HUD expects to announce more HUD-VASH funding later this summer.
VAMCs work closely with homeless veterans then refer them to public housing agencies for these vouchers, based upon a variety of factors, most importantly the duration of the homelessness and the need for longer term more intensive support to obtain and maintain permanent housing. The HUD-VASH program includes both the rental assistance the voucher provides and the comprehensive case management that VAMC staff provides.
Veterans participating in the program rent privately owned housing and generally contribute no more than 30 percent of their income toward rent. VA offers eligible homeless veterans clinical and supportive services through its medical centers across the U.S., Guam and Puerto Rico.
Florida communities that received funding:
- Jacksonville Housing Authority: $250,787
- Housing Authority of the City of St. Petersburg: $207,005
- Tampa Housing Authority: $286,531
- Orlando Housing Authority: $741,708
- Miami Dade Public Housing and Community Development: $327,024
- Housing Authority of City of Daytona Beach: $104,984
- Sarasota Housing Authority: $160,403
- West Palm Beach Housing Authority: $260,719
- Housing Authority of the City of Titusville: $149,258
- Ocala Housing Authority: $60,908
- Seminole County Housing Authority: $99,143
- Housing Authority of the City of Stuart: $113,421
- Housing Authority of the City of Fort Myers: $321,960
- Pinellas County Housing Authority: $251,168
- Alachua County Housing Authority: $378,397
- Tallahassee Housing Authority: $391,246
- Broward County Housing Authority: $895,956
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