Soldier On receives $12,757,000 in SSVF grants
Soldier On, an organization that is dedicated to serving homeless veterans, was awarded $12,757,000 in Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) grants last week to serve veterans in 36 counties in eastern upstate and central New York, 36 counties in central New Jersey, 23 counties in western Pennsylvania, 5 counties in western Massachusetts and over 70 counties in Mississippi. Since Soldier On was awarded their first SSVF grant in October 2011, the organization has served 2,245 homeless and at-risk veterans, spouses and children throughout New York and New Jersey.
The grants, which will be operational starting October 2013, give Soldier On the funding to serve approximately 3,500 participant households throughout these five states.
These awards are among nearly $300 million Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) grants targeted to provide housing stability for approximately 120,000 homeless and at-risk veterans and their families. The grants, going to 319 community agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, were announced today by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.
“With these grants, we are strengthening our partnership with community non-profits across the country to provide Veterans and their families with hope, a home, and a future,” said Shinseki. “The work of Supportive Services for Veteran Families program grantees has already helped us prevent and end homelessness among tens of thousands of homeless Veterans and their families, but as long as a single Veteran lives on our streets, we have work to do.”
“We are very grateful to the VA for creating a program that identifies underserved veterans and allows us to respond immediately to the crises in their lives,” said Soldier On President and CEO John Downing. “The Supportive Services for Veteran Families program allows us to intervene and stabilize veterans and their family members in the living situation that they are now in so that they don’t have to face the difficulties of homelessness.”
The SSVF funds enable the grantees to provide supportive services for veterans including outreach in the community and with their local V.A., case management services, assistance with obtaining V.A. benefits and other services. This includes help in obtaining health care services, financial planning services, transportation, fiduciary and payee services, legal services and housing counseling. The grant may also provide temporary financial assistance for rent, security and utility deposits, utility fees, moving costs, child care, emergency supplies and transportation.
Veterans seeking to enroll in the program should call Soldier On at 1-866-406-8449.
For further information regarding the SSVF program, go tohttp://www.va.gov/homeless/ssvf.asp.
