Housing Authority of the City of Longview

New Funding for Homeless Vets

Cowlitz County, WA –Kelso Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3017 in partnership with Longview Housing Authority have received funding from Washington State Department of Community Trade and Economic Development (CTED) to provide transitional housing and supportive services to twenty (20) homeless veterans in Cowlitz County. This program will give homeless veterans the tools they need to transition from poverty and homelessness to stability and greater self-determination. Post 3017 will provide Service Officers and several other volunteers through the Post to provide the level of intensive services needed to help homeless veterans succeed. This new program will partner with the Vancouver VA Medical Center to build on the current strengths of the Veterans Service Office to enroll homeless veterans into the VA medical program, provide counseling, shelter, service or non-service disability claims, and coordination with local VA and community agencies.

Recent surveys in the Portland and SW Washington, conducted by the local veteran's administration, found that 37% of the homeless veterans were living in shelters and 35% had no housing at all. One half of those surveyed indicated that primary healthcare was a major need. Nearly 50% were dually diagnosed with mental illness and substance abuse. Finally over 40% of the homeless veterans in the Portland and SW Washington area had alcohol and drug issues as their cause of homelessness.

This Tenant Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) program will provide an integrated service and housing model that takes advantage of the LHA's ability to both manage the TBRA housing program and provide long term permanent housing and the local VFW post to provide service integration to the TBRA participants. VFW Post 3017 Service Office is the center of the area's homeless veterans' service system that provides counseling and collaborates with the other providers in the system, including the VA and Lower Columbia Mental Health. The Post Service Office has been recognized as one of the top service providers in the state for the past six years. The Post operates an integrated array of veteran programs, including service connected disability claims, non-service disability claims, employment services, enrollment to alcohol and drug treatment, mental health treatment, Veterans emergency relief assistance, aide and attendance programs, counseling, and enrollment into the VA primary health care. In addition, veterans may be provided with transportation to the VA medical center in Vancouver through the DAV transit systems Monday through Friday.

For more information, contact Helen Reid or Linda Ross at Kelso VFW Post 3017 at 208 Vine Street, Kelso. Phone (360) 577-6757.