SEATTLE – October 4, 2010 - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and HUD Northwest Regional Administrator Mary E. McBride announced last week that HUD will provide funds to support rental Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers for 15 additional homeless veterans in Seattle and King County.
Seattle Housing Authority will receive an additional seven VASH vouchers over and above the 158 such vouchers it previously received, and King County Housing Authority will receive an additional eight over and above the 157 it previously received.
Counting these newly awarded vouchers, over the last three years, HUD has provided funds to support VASH vouchers for 330 homeless veterans in Seattle and King County.
"Our veterans deserve something better than a life on the streets," Donovan said in announcing the awards. "President Obama has given us our marching orders that, as a nation, we must end the curse of homelessness especially for those who answered their country’s call to serve."
Lisa Wolters, Seattle Housing’s Director of Housing Advocacy and Rental Assistance, said she was pleased that the agency will be able to house more homeless veterans.
“We strongly believe in the program - we’ve had great success in working with the Veterans Administration to provide housing for people who have served their country and protected us,” she said.
Wolters attributed the program’s success in large part to initiatives on the part of the VA’s Puget Sound Health Care System and its Seattle Veterans Affairs Medical Center, which identify homeless veterans who can benefit from the assistance and provide them clinical and supportive services before and after they’re housed.
Veterans participating in the VASH program rent privately owned housing and generally contribute no more than 30 percent of their income toward rent.