Cohen Announces $232K for Homeless Veterans in Memphis

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN-9) today announced that the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program has awarded the Memphis Housing Authority $232,782 to supply permanent housing and case management to homeless veterans.

“Veterans cannot be thanked enough for their brave service. We must remember our soldiers after they have completed their mission,” said Congressman Cohen. “These new federal funds will give Memphis veterans the support they need and deserve in housing assistance and case management.”

HUD-VASH is a coordinated effort by HUD, the VA, and local housing agencies to provide permanent housing for homeless veterans. Memphis veterans who receive the new HUD-VASH funding will rent privately owned housing and contribute no more than 30 percent of their income toward rent. They will also receive clinical and supportive services through the Memphis VA Medical Center, which offers treatment to more than 196,000 veterans living in western Tennessee, northern Mississippi, and northwest Arkansas.

The local award is part of $46.2 million in grants to public housing agencies to support the needs of 6,900 homeless veterans nationwide. HUD expects to announce a second round of grant recipients by the end of this summer.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development, created by the U.S. Housing Act of 1937, has grown steadily to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. The new HUD funding is part of the Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, the Obama Administration’s commitment to end veteran and long-term chronic homelessness by 2015.

Congressman Cohen has consistently voted to increase funding for veterans’ services. In the 112th Congress, he is cosponsoring the Military Retiree Health Care Relief Act of 2011, which would give military retirees a refundable tax credit for premiums paid for supplementary medical insurance under Medicare. He is also cosponsoring the Veterans Pensions Protection Act of 2011, which will increase veterans’ eligibility to receive pensions.