Americans truly can have a voice of positive change, especially when the law makers get behind a positive cause.
According ot the Huffington Post — the Department of Veterans Affairs has changed their minds on a decision to slash funding for a program that helps provide housing to homeless veterans, after serious backlash from politicians and activists.
Politico first reported on Wednesday that the VA was planning to essentially end a $460 million program that supports veterans looking for permanent housing. The program, known as HUD-VASH, provides vets with case management and clinical services from the VA and rental assistance from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The VA’s plan had been to funnel money allocated for the program to local VA hospitals to use however they saw fit. The hospitals only had to show they were “dealing with homelessness” in some way, Politico reported.
According to reports, VA officials had a change of heart after “angering” advocates and state officials in a Friday call, that deemed the move dangerous to vets who helped keep this country safe.
According to Randy Brown — a spokesman for HUD — “nearly 40,000 veterans will experience homelessness on any given night.