Cohen Announces $1.35 Million to Help Fight and Prevent Veteran Homelessness

[MEMPHIS, TN] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced two grants for Memphis-area non-profits totaling $1,355,000 in federal funding to help prevent local low-income veterans and their families from becoming homeless and to find housing for those that already have. Today’s grant funding is through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program, which Congressman Cohen has worked to secure funding for.

“Our nation’s veterans are heroes who risked their lives for our safety and security,” said Congressman Cohen. “Whether in Memphis or anywhere else in this nation, no one who puts his or her life on the line for our freedom should live at risk of homelessness. Today’s funding will help us take an important step towards the goal of eliminating veteran homelessness.”

Under today’s announcement, Catholic Charities of West Tennessee will receive $925,000 and Memphis Area Legal Services (MALS) will receive $430,000 to provide a range of services that promote housing stability among eligible very low income veteran families (those making less than 50 percent of the area median income).

Catholic Charities of West Tennessee is the social services arm of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis. It is one of the largest nonprofit, multi-social service providers in the Mid-South with special emphasis in the areas of homelessness, immigration services, veterans’ services and emergency services. MALS is the primary provider of civil legal representation to low income families in western Tennessee. The organization helps individuals and families facing critical, sometimes life-threatening situations including unemployment compensation, predatory lending, mortgage foreclosure, eviction, and homelessness.

Today’s announcement is part of approximately $300 million that the Department of Veterans Affairs recently awarded to allow more than 300 community agencies help roughly 115,000 veterans and veteran families across the nation. The Department’s SSVF Program supports efforts to prevent at-risk veterans from becoming homeless and rapidly re-house those who have recently fallen into homelessness.