Officials hope $30 million program will streamline housing aid for homeless veterans. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
New Jersey will commit more than $30 million over two years to secure housing for more than 1,000 homeless veterans through formal partnerships with veterans service organizations, Acting Gov. Tahesha Way announced Monday.
The Bringing Veterans Home program, a joint effort by state offices and private service providers, is intended to streamline the process by which unhoused veterans seek housing assistance, beginning early next year. Service members and National Guard members also are eligible.
“The courageous men and women who have served our country should never bear the weight of homelessness,” Way said in a statement. “Our Administration is committed to connecting veterans with the resources they need for the housing they deserve.”
Eligible veterans and service members will be able to apply for housing assistance online, by calling the state’s homelessness hotline, or through housing and homeless service providers affiliated with county homelessness offices, the Department of Community Affairs, or state or federal veterans’ affairs offices.
Officials will also conduct direct outreach to unhoused veterans living in homeless encampments or who are otherwise unable to apply on their own. Veterans must have been honorably discharged to be eligible for the program.
A portion of the funds set aside for the program will be used to build out data infrastructure and create six regional hubs to streamline and standardize housing access for homeless veterans across county lines.
“By bridging jurisdictional boundaries, eliminating service gaps, and creating dedicated pathways to permanent housing, we’re building a system that ensures no veteran or National Guard member in New Jersey will have to wonder where they’ll sleep at night,” said Michael Callahan, director of the Office of Homelessness Prevention.
The program marks the first formal partnership between veteran services organizations and the state to combat homelessness among service members. The Office of Homelessness Prevention will administer the program in partnership with the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
Officials said they hoped the program would allow New Jersey to effectively end veteran homelessness in the state by 2027. The most recent count of New Jersey’s unhoused population identified 518 unhoused veterans, representing 5% of almost 10,000 adults statewide who are homeless.
“We are proud to lead this mission alongside the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and are dedicated to honoring our veterans by providing them with the secure housing they rightfully deserve. They served us, now it’s our turn to serve them,” said Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Jacquelyn Suárez.
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