Middletown, NY – October 5, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Congressman John Hall (D-NY) today announced they helped secure a federal investment to help pay for new supportive housing in the Village of Walden for female veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who face difficult economic and other challenges. The $575,000 investment will support the redevelopment of a nursing home into supportive housing for 20 veterans and will also be used to purchase a vehicle to provide transportation to and from the shelter.
“As our men and women in uniform return home many of them face serious obstacles and challenges,” said Hinchey who wrote a letter in support of the grant. “As a result, homelessness among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, and particularly women veterans, has increased and become a tremendous concern. Homelessness for our veterans is an unacceptable situation, and this federal funding, along with several other initiatives I’ve voted for, will help to address this problem in Orange County.”
“For a nation as great as ours, there are far too many homeless veterans living on the streets after returning home from their extraordinary service,” said Rep. Hall. “This funding provides the hundreds of homeless veterans in the Hudson Valley with the care we promised to provide them when we sent them off to war. We have as much of an obligation to care for our soldiers while on the fields of battle as we do when they are in living in our communities.”
Hinchey, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, and Hall, who serves on the House Veterans’ Affairs committee, are strong supporters the Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program, which is funded through the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill. The program provides funding and per diem payments to help public and nonprofit organizations establish and operate new supportive housing and service centers for homeless Veterans. The funding announced today will be administered by the Regional Economic Community Action Program (RECAP) in Orange County.
President of the RECAP Board of Directors John D. Pagan stated, “On behalf of RECAP and its Board of Directors, we would like to thank Congressmen Hinchey and Hall for their assistance in the procurement of this federal grant. This funding will allow RECAP to rehabilitate a 20-bed nursing home to provide supportive housing for homeless single female veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Hinchey, who enlisted in the U.S. Navy after graduating from high school, and Hall have supported a variety of additional measures designed to address homelessness among veterans. Earlier this year the congressmen voted to pass the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010, now law, which expands the number of places where homeless veterans may receive supportive services. They also voted to pass the End Veteran Homelessness Act of 2010, now law, to increase funding for successful programs for homeless veterans, requires each VA medical center that provides supporting housing services to provide housing counselors, strengthens permanent housing programs, and pays special interest to the needs of homeless women veterans and homeless veterans with children.
Established in 1965, RECAP is a registered non-for-profit, anti-poverty, private organization, committed to helping Orange County residents meet their most basic and fundamental needs. Working in conjunction with federal, state and community agencies, both public and private, RECAP takes a proactive stance in combating the symptoms of poverty, by mobilizing, coordinating, and administering the much-needed funds and services to local area residents.
A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Hinchey served in the Pacific on the destroyer U.S.S. Marshall after graduating from high school. As a strong proponent of veterans issue on the House Appropriations Committee, Hinchey traveled to Afghanistan in December 2001 following the U.S. invasion. Last year, during the week of Thanksgiving, he visited the country for a third time to have a holiday dinner with the troops, and recently made a fourth trip to the country earlier this year.
Since his election to the US House of Representatives in 2006, and as Chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, Congressman Hall has been a tireless advocate for the proper care of our veterans.
