Obama Administration, HUD, VA Announce $13.5 Million in Homeless Assistance for Veterans

December 9, 2014
		ISSUES  |  POLICY  |  SOLUTIONS  |  NEWS & EVENTS Forward Editor: Emanuel Cavallaro
		Spotlight On... Obama Administration, HUD, VA Announce $13.5 Million in Homeless Assistance for Veterans The Obama administration and two federal agencies on Monday announced $13.5 million in funding for housing assistance aimed at helping 1,984 homeless veterans. The assistance will come in the form of Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers coupled with Department of Veterans Affairs case management under the Department of Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) voucher program. The HUD-VASH program is an essential component of the Obama administration's and VA's ongoing effort to end veteran homelessness by the end of 2015. It has served nearly 70,000 homeless veterans since 2008. Read the press release

Hill Update Congress to Finalize FY 2015 Appropriations Members of Congress hope to wrap up the 113th Congress with a final vote on the "cromnibus"- a combination of a continuing resolution and an omnibus funding bill - before the current continuing resolution (CR) funding the government runs out this Thursday, Dec. 11. The cromnibus would fund the Department of Homeland Security through March and fund all other federal operations, including homeless assistance and affordable housing programs, through the end of the federal fiscal year on Sept. 30, 2015.

The cromnibus, which was meant to avert a government shutdown later this week, has been delayed by protracted negotiations on a number of issues, including President Obama's recent immigration order. The timeline for passing it is uncertain, although members of Congress appear committed to passing it sometime this week. In the meantime, lawmakers are preparing a CR, a stopgap spending bill that would delay the government shut-down and give members more time to resolve their differences.

Upcoming Webinar: Prepare for the 2015 Point-In-Time Count - Recruiting and Training Volunteers

On Tuesday, Dec. 16, at 1 p.m. ET, the Alliance will host a webinar on working with volunteers for the unsheltered Point-in-Time (PIT) Count. During the webinar, "Prepare for the 2015 Point-In-Time Count: Recruiting and Training Volunteers," Adriana Camarda of the City of Chicago will present on the basics of finding and training volunteers; Jama Shelton of the True Colors fund will discuss working with volunteers to count LGBTQ populations; and Alan Ostergaard of the Twin Cities YMCA will talk about training volunteers to enumerate youth populations.

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Conference Reminder: Workshop Descriptions Published Online

The workshop titles and descriptions for the Alliance's 2015 National Conference on Ending Family and Youth Homelessness in San Diego, February 19 to 20, are now available on the agenda page of the conference website. Please note the conference agenda is tentative and subject to change.

Access the conference agenda

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