[MEMPHIS, TN] Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today announced that the Memphis Housing Authority has been awarded $48,322 in federal funding to provide tenant-based vouchers that will enable homeless veterans and their families to access affordable existing housing of their choice. This funding, which will also allow veterans to receive an array of supporting services, comes through the Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program.
It is a tragedy that any of our veterans in Memphis and throughout the country are homeless, said Congressman Cohen. These vouchers are just one way we can give back to the veterans who gave so much for us and a step toward the goal of having no homeless veterans in America.
As a critical part of the Obama Administrations commitment to end veteran and long-term chronic homelessness in 2015, the HUD-VASH Program combines rental assistance from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with case management and clinical services provided by VA. Since 2008, the program has awarded more than 48,000 rental assistance and vouchers helped place more than 42,500 formerly homeless veterans in homes. HUDs annual point in time estimate of the number of homeless persons and families for 2012 found that Veteran homelessness fell by 7.2 percent (or 4,876 people) since January 2011 and by 17.2 percent since January 2009.
