Funds will enhance services for special needs homeless Veterans.
WASHINGTON – Today, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald announced the award of $3.4 million in grant funding offered through the Grant and Per Diem (GPD) Program to 16 community agencies that provide enhanced services for homeless Veterans with special needs.
The GPD Program promotes the development and provision of supportive housing and services to help homeless Veterans to have stable residences, increase their skills and income, and achieve independence. Specifically, GPD special need grant funding assists with additional operating costs of transitional housing and services for special need groups such as women, chronically mental ill, frail elderly, terminally ill, and those with minor dependents.
“GPD Special Need Grants exemplify VA’s response to the wide range of needs of subpopulations of homeless Veterans,” said VA Secretary McDonald. “These 16 grants strengthen the continuum of VA services to help the most vulnerable Veterans become stably housed and achieve greater self-determination.”
As a result of these and other efforts, the number of U.S. Veterans experiencing homelessness has been cut nearly in half since 2010. As of September 16, 2016, 29 communities and two states have confirmed and publicly announced that they have effectively ended Veteran homelessness, serving as models for others across the nation.
More information about VA’s homeless programs is available at www.va.gov/homeless. Community organizations seeking details and/or more information may visit VA’s National Grant and Per Diem Program website www.va.gov/homeless/GPD.ASP.
###
Reporters and media outlets with questions or comments should contact the Office of Media Relations at vapublicaffairs@va.gov
Veterans with questions about their health care and benefits (including GI Bill). Questions, updates and documents can be submitted online.
Veterans can also use our chatbot to get information about VA benefits and services. The chatbot won’t connect you with a person, but it can show you where to go on VA.gov to find answers to some common questions.
Subscribe today to receive these news releases in your inbox.
More from the Press Room
News Releases
Three-quarters of the way through the fiscal year – VA has granted benefits to 1.1 million Veterans and their survivors, an all-time record.
News Releases
Eligible organizations providing employment-based resources and tools to help recently separated members of the Armed Forces and their spouses may now apply for grants from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
News Releases
Veterans can now create their new Login.gov or ID.me accounts as VA transitions to a streamlined process for accessing VA online services.