FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Contact: Mayor's Office of Communications, 415-554-6131

** PRESS RELEASE**

MAYOR NEWSOM ANNOUNCES NEW FUNDING TO HOUSE HOMELESS VETERANS
San Francisco Housing Authority to receive $1.5 million in federal funding

San Francisco, CA – Joined by the Executive Director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Philip Mangano, today Mayor Gavin Newsom announced new federal funding to assist homeless veterans in San Francisco find housing. The funding will be targeted toward providing homeless veterans with support services and the opportunity to obtain permanent housing.

"Every veteran deserves a home that he or she can afford," said Mayor Newsom. "This funding will serve a vital need by making sure veterans have an affordable place to live, with the support services they need to live independently."

The award of 105 vouchers representing $1.5 million to the San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA) is part of $75 million announced nationally for 10,000 new vouchers for the Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program as the result of Congressional support in the FY2008 budget.

SFHA will receive the funding in portions as the agency leases units to veterans. The funding will go toward housing assistance and administration fees to administer the vouchers given to veterans. The "wait list" for housing units will be monitored by the San Francisco VA Medical Center which has been working to put a selection and placement process in place. The VA Center will identify the candidates and determine eligibility. Veterans will then be referred to the SFHA for an intake for the assistance program and given the necessary paperwork to find a unit. Once a veteran finds a unit, SFHA will inspect the unit and facilitate the lease for them. There will be housing search assistance offered by the VA Center's staff as well as SFHA resources to ensure maximum success for the veterans.

"An additional $1.5 million in housing and service resources from the federal Departments of Housing and Urban Development and VA will supplement the continuing work in San Francisco to reduce and end the homelessness of those who have served their country and find themselves without a home," said Mangano. "The interagency collaboration of HUD and VA, revitalized by the Congress and supported by the President, will move more than 100 veterans off the streets and out of shelters into permanent supported housing in line with the San Francisco's 'Housing First' goals."

Current national statistics indicate between 20% to 33% of people experiencing homelessness are veterans. Of the 6,377 homeless counted in the San Francisco's 2007 Homeless Count, an estimated 20% are veterans.

"It is important for the San Francisco Housing Authority to serve those who have served this country," said Henry A. Alvarez III, executive director of the San Francisco Housing Authority. "The funds awarded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development will allow us to focus, care and provide vital services to our veterans. Service veterans who have been through so much deserve to have the most basic necessity – a place to call home."

The HUD-VASH Program provides permanent housing subsidies and case management services to homeless veterans with mental and addictive disorders. The HUD-VASH program was commenced in 1992 under a memorandum of agreement between HUD and VA. HUD awarded funding for approximately 10,000 HUD-VASH vouchers in May 2008.

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