MURPHY APPLAUDS FUNDING TO PROVIDE SUPPORTIVE HOUSING TO 76 HOMELESS CONNECTICUT VETERANS

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, applauded the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for releasing nearly $700,000 to Connecticut public housing agencies to provide rental assistance for 76 homeless Connecticut veterans – many of whom live with chronic disabling conditions – with case management and clinical services. A total of almost $65 million will go to agencies across the United States to provide housing and services for 9,333 homeless veterans nationwide.

Murphy has been a leader in reducing the number of homeless veterans in Connecticut. After hearing of veterans living in the woods in Waterbury in 2008, Murphy assembled a working group of veterans, as well as federal, state, and local officials and immediately began working to secure more HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers for the state. Through his work with the VA’s Director of Homeless Veterans Programs, Murphy was able to increase the number of vouchers awarded to Connecticut by 35 in just the first year. In 2010, Murphy visited Army Sgt. Shellyann Burke of Waterbury – a nine-year veteran who had been living with her 3-year old daughter out of their car – at the new 2-bedroom apartment on Meriden Road they had been able to move into because of the increased number of HUD-VASH vouchers made available to Connecticut veterans. Since the time Murphy launched this effort, HUD-VASH assistance to Connecticut veterans has increased by more than 300 percent, and has helped more than 700 Connecticut veterans move off the streets and into homes of their own.

“No one should have to go without a roof over their head, but veterans in particular deserve a place to call home. One homeless vet is too many, and given all they have done to serve our country, we must provide them with the support they need,” said Murphy. “These new housing resources will be life changing for so many deserving individuals in Connecticut and across the country, and I’m proud to have been a part of this important effort.”

Connecticut agencies that will receive this funding are listed below: