Washington, DC – Congressman Al Green (TX-09), a supporter of the veteran community and a member of the House Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Development, joined colleague Congressman Michael Michaud, a subcommittee chairman on the House Veterans Affairs Committee to introduce the Home for the Heroes Act of 2007 on Friday, August 3, 2007.  A similar version of this bill, S. 1084 was introduced by Senator Barack Obama earlier this year. 

On any given night in this country, 800,000 persons experience homelessness.  According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, nearly 200,000 of these homeless Americans are adult veterans who live on the streets or in shelters.  Nearly 400,000 veterans may experience homelessness at some point during the year.  Many more low income veterans and veteran families live at the margins and are at risk of becoming homeless in the absence of permanent housing solutions and supportive services.  In fact, 1.5 million veterans have incomes that fall below the federal poverty level, including 634,000 with incomes below 50 percent of the poverty line.

The Department of Veterans Affairs reports that its homeless veteran programs serve 100,000 veterans annually.  National Coalition for Homeless Veterans (NCHV)-member community-based organizations serve an additional 150,000 veterans annually.  The VA reaches only 25 percent and NCHV-member community-based organizations reach only 35 percent of those in need.  This means that there are 150,000 homeless veterans who do not have access to these critical housing and supportive services programs every year.

“Those brave men and women who dedicated and risked their lives to defending and supporting our freedom deserve the same basic necessities as all Americans.  These necessities include housing; our nation’s heroes who fought so bravely to defend the American Dream ought to be afforded the opportunity to achieve it as well.  Homelessness among veterans is a shame on our nation, but it is a shame that we can address so that no veteran is homeless.  Unfortunately, many of these homeless heroes are not connected to the vital housing and supportive services that they need,” stated Congressman Green.  “This is why Congressman Michaud and I have introduced H.R. 3329, the Homes for Heroes Act, which will provide shelter for homeless veterans and homeless veteran families, and help prevent low-income families from falling into homelessness.  Our bill would establish the position of Special Assistant for Veterans Affairs within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to coordinate services to homeless veterans and serve as a liaison to the Department of Veterans Affairs, state and local officials, and nonprofit service organizations; Establish a $200 million assistance program for supportive housing and services for low-income veterans; Expand the highly successful HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program, authorizing 20,000 vouchers annually and making the program permanent; Authorize $1 million in HUD grants to assist housing and service providers with the execution of their housing projects for veterans assisted by HUD, fulfilling the planning and application process; Assist veterans in obtaining housing or homeless assistance; and Require HUD to submit a comprehensive annual report to Congress on the housing needs of homeless veterans and the steps HUD has taken under the programs provided for in the bill.”