HUD, VA Award More Than $293,000 to Provide Housing Assistance for Veterans in Hartford

Hartford, CT – In a press conference today in Hartford, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced $293,976 in HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers to the City of Hartford Housing Authority to provide a permanent home to veterans experiencing homelessness. In total, HUD awarded $25.4 million to 99 Public Housing Agencies across the country.

The HUD-VASH program provides housing and an array of supportive services to veterans experiencing homelessness by combining rental assistance from HUD with case management and clinical services provided by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Thanks to the joint efforts of HUD, VA, and United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), the number of Veterans experiencing homelessness has fallen by 11% since early 2020 – the biggest decline in more than 5 years.

“We owe it to our veterans to provide the support they need when they come home,” said U.S. Rep. John B. Larson (CT-01). “I am proud to support programs like HUD-VASH that secure permanent housing for our nation’s homeless veterans because no one who served should be homeless in America. With this grant, Hartford is one of 99 communities across the country working to place thousands of veterans in homes to meet our goal of ending veteran homelessness for good. I want to commend Mayor Bronin and all the community leaders who worked hard to ensure this lifeline for veterans in Hartford.”

“We’ve made significant strides reducing the number of Veterans experiencing homelessness and these investments will build on that progress,”said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “The Biden-Harris Administration has made ending homelessness a top priority.  Today’s announcement puts us one step closer to ensuring every Veteran who serves our country has safe, stable housing.”

"For our veterans experiencing homelessness in Hartford, the VASH housing voucher program can make a world of difference, not just through the rental assistance but also the care and case management that comes with it,” said Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin. “With this $300,000 in funding, we can take more than two dozen of our veterans off the street and into the homes that they deserve.  I’m grateful to the Biden-Harris administration, as well as Secretary Fudge and Secretary McDonough, for all the work they’ve done supporting our servicemembers, from mental health services to healthcare and most importantly, to finding a good, safe place to call home.”

“This grant will change the lives of homeless veterans — providing them with affordable housing and an array of support services so they can thrive. Failing to support our nation’s heroes is unacceptable,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal. “With these federal funds, the City of Hartford Housing Authority will help countless veterans get back on their feet and into safe and stable housing.”

“We have a responsibility to make sure the brave men and women who serve our country are taken care of when they come home. It’s unacceptable that we have veterans in Connecticut without a place to call home, and I’m glad to see our efforts to increase the number of housing vouchers our state receives for homeless veterans are paying off,” said Senator Chris Murphy.

Provided through the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program, this supportive housing assistance combines rental assistance from HUD with case management and clinical services provided by the VA. This round of allocations will support 2308 HUD-VASH vouchers, and a breakdown of the awards by recipient is available here.

This calendar year, VA has provided more than 34,000 permanent housing placements for homeless Veterans — putting VA on track to meet, and even exceed, its goal of 38,000 permanent housing placements for homeless Veterans in 2022.

Since 2008, Congress has appropriated a total of $885 million for new HUD-VASH vouchers, and billions more to renew these vouchers every year. To date, nearly 107,000 HUD-VASH vouchers (106,989) have been awarded to Public Housing Authorities and VA Medical Center (PHA/VAMC) partnerships.  Approximately 700 PHAs nationwide administer HUD-VASH vouchers.