× ELECTION Coverage of Arizona's election with all-day analysis and live results beginning at 8pm.Election CoverageElection Results
  1. TV
 / Modified may 14, 2019 10:39 a.m.

Federal Budget Could Mean More Help for Homeless Veterans

The new budget puts aside billions of dollars for housing.
by Christopher Conover

VA hospital The Southern Arizona VA Health Care System, in Tucson.
AZPM Staff

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs budget presented to Congress earlier this year includes nearly $2 billion for homeless veterans programs.

About 200 homeless vets live on the streets in Tucson, according to the latest homeless census. The VA in Tucson uses the "housing first" model for homeless vets. Staff members work to get the vets into housing and off the streets before concentrating on any addiction or mental health issues.

Part of the funding request includes money for housing homeless veterans.

"We are building much more transitional housing in cooperation with Secretary Carson at [the Department of Housing and Urban Development] so that when veterans are found, we have some place for them to go," Robert Wilke, VA secretary, told AZPM.

Pima County opened a 44-unit affordable housing complex near Davis-Monthan Air Force Base for homeless veterans in 2017.

MORE: Arizona, Government, News, Veterans
By posting comments, you agree to our
AZPM encourages comments, but comments that contain profanity, unrelated information, threats, libel, defamatory statements, obscenities, pornography or that violate the law are not allowed. Comments that promote commercial products or services are not allowed. Comments in violation of this policy will be removed. Continued posting of comments that violate this policy will result in the commenter being banned from the site.

By submitting your comments, you hereby give AZPM the right to post your comments and potentially use them in any other form of media operated by this institution.
AZPM is a service of the University of Arizona and our broadcast stations are licensed to the Arizona Board of Regents who hold the trademarks for Arizona Public Media and AZPM. We respectfully acknowledge the University of Arizona is on the land and territories of Indigenous peoples.
The University of Arizona