LANSING, Mich. (WZMQ) -The state’s Department for Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) is budgeted to receive $275 million, a chunk of which the Veterans Affairs Agency (MVAA) aims to use to create housing solutions for homeless veterans.
The state of Michigan launched a campaign to end homelessness back in 2023. To help meet those goals, the MVAA awards grants to fund housing solutions specifically for veterans.
$2.5 million has been budgeted for the agency’s Veteran Homelessness grants. In the past, MVAA has awarded $150,000 each to organizations and non-profits working on housing projects for veterans, but the director, Brian L. Love said that an increase in funding for the project will allow more flexibility to make sure each project has the resources to address the needs in their area.
“For our budget with the michigan veterans affairs agency, we were very fortunate to be granted a couple million dollars to attack the veteran homeless issue in our state.” Love said. “When I say for our state, it’s not just southeast Michigan or southwest Michigan or mid-Michigan, it’s the entire state which includes the UP.”
Love said in 2023, there were over 15,000 homeless veterans in the state. He explained that this year, that number has gone down overall, but the number of homeless women veterans, often with children, has increased. It’s pushing them to encourage more innovative solutions for the rising number of families in need.
“It’s a lot of it is working with our veteran partners across the state to figure out what their needs are and where the money is most needed to support the most homeless veterans, so we can get these veterans off the street.” Love said. “We’re all Michiganders. We all want to fight the homeless problem. We all want to empower our veterans.”
He said it’s a priority to keep communities intact by giving grantees the control to find solutions that make the most sense for the area.
