PROVIDENCE, RI – In an effort to provide essential housing and support for homeless veterans, U.S. Senator Jack Reed today announced that the Providence, North Providence, Pawtucket, Tiverton, Bristol, and West Warwick Housing Authorities will receive a total of $152,775 in federal funding to assist homeless veterans through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program.  While the Providence and North Providence Housing Authorities have previously received HUD-VASH vouchers, the Pawtucket, Tiverton, Bristol and West Warwick Housing Authorities are all new recipients of the funding.

HUD-VASH is a collaborative program that combines HUD rental assistance for homeless veterans with case management and supportive services through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).  Veterans accepted in the HUD-VASH program receive assistance in vouchers to rent privately-owned housing.  The housing vouchers allow veterans and their families to live in market-rate rental units while the VA simultaneously provides them with case management and other services -- including health care, mental health treatment, employment assistance and substance-use counseling -- that help them stay housed.

In addition to the more than 230 veterans currently served in Rhode Island through the HUD-VASH program, the Providence and North Providence Housing Authorities will each be able to house two additional veterans experiencing homelessness, with vouchers totaling $14,395 and $14,797, respectively.  The other housing authorities will receive a combined twenty vouchers, with Pawtucket Housing Authority receiving a total of $31,031; Tiverton Housing Authority receiving a total of $30,105; the Town of Bristol Housing Authority receiving a total of $29,441; and West Warwick Housing Authority receiving a total of $33,006.

“We will not leave any veteran behind and must make every effort to ensure all our veterans have access to safe, suitable housing.  HUD-VASH helps keep that commitment by providing affordable housing and supportive services to veterans in need.  This is an important tool to help end chronic veteran homelessness, and I am pleased the state is receiving this latest down payment to help more veterans,” said Senator Reed.  “These veterans have experienced real hardships, and HUD-VASH provides a real life-line for them, from finding them a place to call home to providing hands-on counseling and case management to help them get back on their feet.”

A member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and the Ranking Member of the panel’s subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD), which oversees HUD-VASH funding, Senator Reed secured $40 million to support 5,100 new HUD-VASH vouchers in the fiscal year 2018 Omnibus spending bill, rejecting President Trump’s proposal to eliminate new resources for the program.

This latest round of HUD-VASH funding comes in addition to $5,796,184 in federal Continuum of Care (CoC) grants for Rhode Island homeless assistance programs that Senator Reed announced earlier this year.

Senator Reed has been a strong supporter of housing assistance and homelessness prevention initiatives throughout his years in office.  In addition to his work on HUD-VASH, he also authored the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act, which was signed into law by President Obama.  The HEARTH Act reauthorized the landmark McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and simplified and consolidated three competitive HUD homelessness assistance programs into one program and allowed more funding to flow to communities that can demonstrate a commitment to accomplishing the goals of preventing and ending homelessness.

Veterans who are homeless, or at imminent risk of becoming homeless, can call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans hotline at: 1-877-4AID VET (877-424-3838).  The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs founded the hotline to ensure that veterans in need have free, 24/7 access to trained counselors.  The hotline is intended to assist homeless veterans and their families, VA Medical Centers, federal, state and local partners, community agencies, service providers, and others in the community.

Since 2008, more than $500 million has been allocated through the HUD-VASH program to serve more than 100,000 homeless veterans nationwide, with more than 10,000 additional veterans served as they become self-sufficient and successfully exit the program.