ELMSFORD – The Department of Veterans Affairs will spend $2.4 million to prevent at-risk Hudson Valley veterans from becoming homeless. A $1.89 allocation will go to the Westchester Community Opportunity Program to serve 450 families and a $500,000 investment will be used by Hudson River Housing to serve 250 families through the Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program.
Both programs will aid vets in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess and Ulster counties, said Rep. Eliot Engel (D-16), who announced the funding Monday along with Representatives Nita Lowey (D-18) and Sean Patrick Maloney (D-19).
“They are honorably discharged,” Engel said. “They have served in harm’s way in Afghanistan and Iran and other places and then there are not enough programs to help these people. What I like about this program is this is money that goes directly to helping people who come back are lose their homes or are losing their homes.”
Maloney said it is “both tragic and shameful” that tens of thousands of vets are homeless and this program is “a step in the right direction” for the veterans in the community.
“With these badly-needed funds, fewer or our veterans and their families in the Lower Hudson Valley will be without a roof over their heads,” said Lowey.