Veterans Affairs grants to help prevent veteran homelessness in the midstate

(Lebanon) — The US Department of Veterans Affairs is partnering with three midstate nonprofits in its quest to end veteran homelessness by 2015. Joe Getway with the Lebanon VA Medical Center says the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program targets those veterans who are at risk of homelessness.

He says preventing the problem is much more effective than reacting to it.

“It’s financially more effective, it’s clinically more effective,” Getway explains. “The problems that somebody faces once they become homeless just get so much bigger and more difficult to manage and come back from.”

Opportunity House, YWCA of Greater Harrisburg and Volunteers of America of Pennsylvania Inc. will share in one-point-five million dollars in VA grants that will help them serve about 430 veteran families. Getway says this latest round of grants will allow them to cover all nine counties in the Lebanon VA region with supportive services.

The latest point-in-time estimates from the federal government show nearly 63,000 homeless veterans nationwide. That’s a seven percent decrease from the previous year.