VA Mission Homeless Program
Background on Homelessness
Current population estimates suggest that about 107,000 veterans (male and female) are homeless on any given night and perhaps twice as many experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year. Many other veterans are considered near homeless or at risk because of their poverty, lack of support from family and friends, and dismal living conditions in cheap hotels or in overcrowded or substandard housing. Almost all homeless veterans are male (about four percent are women), the vast majority are single, and most come from poor, disadvantaged backgrounds. Homeless veterans tend to be older and more educated than homeless non-veterans. But similar to the general population of homeless adult males, about 45 percent of homeless veterans suffer from mental illness and (with considerable overlap) slightly more than 70 percent suffer from alcohol or other drug abuse problems.
To address the needs of homeless veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), as part of its Capital Asset Management Program, seeks to more effectively leverage its underutilized real property assets on VA medical and National Cemetery campuses under its Enhanced Use Lease (EUL) authority to build needed homeless housing facilities.
In December 4, 2006, the Secretary signed the site review initiative with the objective of conducting a comprehensive review and assessment of VA’s vast infrastructure and capital asset inventory to decrease the amount of underutilized real property and maximize its value through EUL. The EUL proceeds from the executed projects will be reinvested to enhance services provided to the Veterans. On May 5, 2008 the Secretary approved 49 sites for EUL development under this initiative. Projects were divided in two phases for implementation. OAEM already awarded four of the Phase I projects in FY 2009.
Alexandria, Louisiana | Asheville, North Carolina |
Augusta, Georgia | Bonham, Texas |
Cheyenne, Wyoming | Chillicothe, Ohio |
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas | Fort Harrison, Montana |
Hines, Illinois | Kansas City, Missouri |
Kerrville, Texas | Leeds (Northampton), Massachusetts |
Lyons, New Jersey | Martinsburg, West Virginia |
Newington, Connecticut | Roseburg, Oregon |
Sheridan, Wyoming | Togus, Maine |
Tomah, Wisconsin | Topeka, Kansas |
Tuscaloosa, Alabama | Tuskegee, Alabama |
Wichita, Kansas |
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