Serving Veterans Without Homes
I have always said that one agency cannot do it all when it comes to serving the 560,000 veterans living in Washington. It takes all of us putting our collective wisdom, resources, and passion for serving those who servedtogether to truly make it happen!
Recently, members of our active duty military got involved in serving veterans without homes. Members of the Sergeant Audie Murphy Club at Madigan Army Medical Center completed a volunteer project to build a tiny shelter home, which will be used by a non-profit in Seattle to provide emergency shelter to veterans. Moreover, this is just the beginning! Other units are making plans to do similar builds and I have no doubt that veterans in need of emergency shelter will benefit from their hard work.
In addition to these shelters, several transitional and permanent housing projects are being developed across the state. A local non-profit is planning to build a village of tiny homes for veterans in Shelton and the Soldiers Home at Orting. These are not emergency housing programs and instead will provide small communities for veterans and perhaps be a stepping-stone into other living arrangements.
I am delighted to report that thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, WDVA will begin serving veterans with transitional housing in Roosevelt Barracks on the campus of the Soldiers Home later this fall. We will be sharing additional information on that program soon, as well as opportunities for you or your organization to get involved by adopting a room.
I know there are many more projects out there and if we can help highlight the hard work that is happening for veterans, please send the information our way to communications@dva.wa.gov.