Peters Joins Colleagues in Bipartisan Letter Supporting Veterans
WASHINGTON, DC – April 9, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) today joined 14 of his colleagues in calling for robust funding to support at-risk veterans and their families and end veteran homelessness. In a bipartisan letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies, Peters and his colleagues requested that the Supporting Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) Program and the Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem (GPD) Program continue to receive strong funding in the FY 2016 budget.
“We respectfully urge the Subcommittee to provide robust funding for the SSVF and GPD programs that will allow for continued momentum and progress toward ending veteran homelessness,” wrote Senator Peters and his colleagues. “The need for these programs remains great. As VA continues to work towards the goal of ending veteran homelessness by the end of 2015, we support the critical role the SSVF and GPD programs play in serving veterans and their families in need.”
To read the full letter, click here.
Through the SSVF, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides key grants to non-profit organizations that assist low-income veterans and their families that live in or are transitioning to permanent housing. Since the SSVF’s creation in 2011, the VA has awarded a total of $1.059 billion to grantees in all 50 states, and according to the VA, eighty-six percent of households that completed SSVF programs successfully exited to permanent housing. The GPD additionally provides grants to non-profits that provide transitional housing for veterans.
“America’s men and women in uniform put their lives on the line to defend our country, and we must support them during the often-difficult transition to civilian life after military service,” added Senator Peters. “With nearly 50,000 homeless veterans across the country on any given night, Congress must act to continue funding critical programs to end veteran homelessness.”
Last week, Senator Peters, who is a former Lt. Commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve, toured the Volunteers of America (VOA) in Lansing, where he saw firsthand the work the VOA is doing to support Michigan’s veterans and combat veteran homelessness. Through transitional housing, case management, employment help, the VOA works to prevent low-income veterans and their families from falling into homelessness. Additionally, Peters cosponsored the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, bipartisan legislation that was signed into law by the President earlier this year to provide additional resources to improve mental health care and suicide prevention programs for veterans.
