TDHCA providing help to 24 Houston veterans of Afghan, Iraq wars
AUSTIN, TX – March 19, 2008 – Life on the home front will soon be a little easier for at least 24 Houston area veterans and their families as the result of a recent funding award by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA). U.S. Veterans Initiative, a nonprofit organization operating in five states, will receive $250,000 in state funds to provide three years’ worth of rental assistance to these low income Texans who honorably served their country in Afghanistan or Iraq.
“All too often we hear about the difficulties veterans face finding decent housing when returning home,” said Michael Gerber, TDHCA Executive Director. “These men and women put their lives on the line to defend our nation and have served us admirably. Now it’s our turn to serve them with safe, decent housing here at home.”
TDHCA made this award through its Texas Veteran’s Housing Support Program, an innovative new program supported through the state-funded Housing Trust Fund. This assistance provides a rent subsidy and security and utility deposit assistance in the form of a grant to eligible veterans for a period not to exceed 36 months. Rental assistance requires the tenant’s participation in a self-sufficiency program, the objectives of which include the acquisition of a permanent source of affordable housing. The assistance is portable, meaning veterans and their families can live in any rental dwelling of their choice.
Gerber explained that TDHCA received seven applications for the first Texas Veteran’s Housing Support Program award cycle, with requests totaling $1.4 million for either rental and homebuyer assistance. TDHCA has reviewed five of these applications, including that from U.S. Veterans Initiative, and each passed the program’s eligibility and threshold requirements. The Department is currently evaluating the remaining two applications, and he said that TDHCA could make a determination on these as early as next month.
About the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs
The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs is Texas’ lead agency responsible for affordable housing, community services, energy assistance, and colonia housing programs. The Department annually administers more than $400 million through for-profit, nonprofit, and local government partnerships to deliver local housing and community-based opportunities and assistance to Texans in need.
