VIRGINIA BEACH — On Friday, the City of Virginia Beach was awarded a grant by the federal government toward ending veteran homelessness.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs granted $39,161 to the city’s department of housing and neighborhood preservation to provide a permanent home for five additional veterans experiencing homelessness in Virginia Beach.
Virginia Beach’s department of housing and neighborhood preservation is one of 13 public housing agencies that was awarded new funding totaling $693,962.
The grant is provided through the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program, which combines rental assistance from HUD with case management and clinical services provided by the VA.
The city uses HUD-VASH vouchers in partnership with the Hampton VA Medical Center to provide housing subsidies to homeless veterans and their families.
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The new funding will support five new HUD-VASH vouchers, which will provide a year of housing subsidies for five veteran households. This will bring the total of HUD-VASH vouchers in Virginia Beach to 151.
The Commonwealth of Virginia as a whole was recognized as functionally ending veteran homelessness in 2015. This means that veterans who become homeless, once identified, can be housed within approximately 60 days.
