Homeless Veterans grants for groups in Hawaii and Guam

Homeless Veterans and their families have help on the way. Millions of dollars in grants have been awarded to organizations in Hawaii and Guam to aid in curbing Veteran homelessness.

No Veteran should be without a place to call home.

Hundreds of very low-income Veteran families in the VA Pacific Islands Health Care area are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of becoming homeless.

They will now have access to crucial services from local organizations via grants provided by the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program.

The announcement was made by Adam M. Robinson, Jr., director of VA Pacific Islands Health Care System.

Locally, three organizations in Honolulu and Guam received grants totaling $4,158,000. A list of grantees is available at www.va.gov/homeless/ssvf.asp. More than 260 organizations nationwide received SSVF grants.

Program invites community to help prevent Veteran homelessness

Supportive Services for Veteran Families is a key tool to promote housing stability among our most economically vulnerable Veterans and their families.

This program empowers our community-based partners to provide the mix of services needed to prevent Veterans from becoming homeless and rapidly re-house those who become homeless.

• US VETS awarded $2,904,000
• Catholic Charities $557,000
• WestCare (Guam) $697,000

Nationally, SSVF served 112,070 participants, including 77,590 Veterans and 19,919 children in 2020.

As a result of these and other efforts, Veteran homelessness is down significantly since the launch of the Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness in 2010.

VA homelessness focus is threefold:

• Conducting coordinated outreach to proactively seek out Veterans in need of assistance.
• Connecting homeless and at-risk Veterans with housing solutions, health care, community employment services and other required support.
• Collaborating with federal, state and local agencies, employers, housing providers, faith-based and community nonprofits.

We collaborate with them and others to expand employment and affordable housing options for Veterans exiting homelessness.