Latest news with #homelessVeterans
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
West Texas VA hosts resource fair & VA2K
BIG COUNTRY, Texas () — The West Texas VA Health Care System will host an event to support homeless Veterans in the Big Country and beyond, raising awareness of available resources. The George H. O'Brien, Jr. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center will host the 2025 VA2K event in Big Spring, Texas, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on May 21. This event aims to enhance community awareness about resources available to veterans and to support those experiencing homelessness. West Texas VA breaks ground on new outpatient clinic in Abilene In conjunction with the VA2K, a Veterans Health Resource Fair will be held, featuring information on Women Veteran programs, assistance with enrollment and eligibility, social work services, initiatives from the Healthy Living Team, Whole Health programs, MyHealthyVet resources, and more. 'This event provides an excellent opportunity for Veterans, their families, and community members to connect with healthcare and support services designed to improve well-being and promote independence,' the West Texas VA shared. 'We also invite the community to contribute donations to support homeless Veterans. Your generosity can make a real difference in their lives.' Visit the for more details and donation options. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump signs order to create center for homeless vets — with funds meant for housing undocumented immigrants
On May 9, President Donald Trump signed his 150th executive order of 2025, directing Veterans Affairs (VA) to create a center for homeless veterans in Los Angeles on the VA's West L.A. campus. This site has been subject to legal troubles recently. Last fall, a federal judge ruled the VA failed veterans in its fiduciary duty to provide them with housing. The judge ordered additional housing and invalidated leases of portions of the land given to civilian entities, including UCLA and a private school. The decision has been appealed. The executive order instructs VA chief Doug Collins to prepare a plan within 120 days to house 6,000 homeless veterans on the campus by 2028, and take action to 'restore accountability' at the department. Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now become a landlord for as little as $100 — and no, you don't have to deal with tenants or fix freezers. Here's how I'm 49 years old and have nothing saved for retirement — what should I do? Don't panic. Here are 5 of the easiest ways you can catch up (and fast) Nervous about the stock market in 2025? Find out how you can access this $1B private real estate fund (with as little as $10) Trump also ordered that 'funds that may have been spent on housing or other services for illegal aliens are redirected to construct, establish and maintain' the new facility, which will be called the National Center for Warrior Independence. It has not been made clear which programs for housing and undocumented immigrants will be required to give up their funding, or how these funds will be reallocated to the project. The White House acknowledged that L.A. is the city with the largest share of unhoused veterans in the country. 'Los Angeles has approximately 3,000 homeless veterans — more than any other city in the country and accounting for about 10% of all homeless veterans in America," The White House said in a statement released May 9. The existing Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program (HUD-VASH) seems to be ineffective in helping veterans secure stable housing. In 2024, the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System reported that while there were 8,453 HUD-VASH housing vouchers available for housing veterans in the greater Los Angeles area, only 62% were in use. A report in the Los Angeles Times attributed this middling figure to delays in processing and resistance from landlords to accept them. A number of veterans viewed Trump's executive order as a positive sign. The Veterans Collective, which has a contract with the VA to construct approximately 1,200 housing units on the campus, issued a statement saying it 'enthusiastically applauds President Trump's plan for a national center for homeless veterans,' according to the Los Angeles Times. Read more: You're probably already overpaying for this 1 'must-have' expense — and thanks to Trump's tariffs, your monthly bill could soar even higher. Here's how 2 minutes can protect your wallet right now Others, however, took a cautiously optimistic approach. 'The President's Executive Order is a right thing but not yet the right thing,' Anthony Allman of Vets Advocacy told the news publication. "We look forward to working with the administration to make the right things — housing, community, workforce development — available to veterans.' The executive order comes in the midst of substantial cuts to staffing for Veterans Affairs. The White House statement on the executive order notes that the president signed legislation to 'remove thousands of VA workers who failed to give our vets the care they so richly deserve.' The Trump administration aims to cut the VA's workforce by 15% under DOGE, according to NPR. Approximately 470,000 people are employed by the VA, the vast majority of them medical professionals. The broadcaster reported on May 10 that 11,273 VA employees across the country had applied for a deferred resignation. About 1,300 of these applications were from nurses, 800 from medical support assistants and 300 from social workers. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America organization conducted a poll in which more than 80% of veterans said they are concerned about the recent federal cuts and their impact on veteran benefits and health care. "A lot of veterans are calling us, and they're worried because they're afraid that this is going to affect their health care, this is going to affect the benefits," Dan Clare of Disabled American Veterans told NPR. Want an extra $1,300,000 when you retire? Dave Ramsey says this 7-step plan 'works every single time' to kill debt, get rich in America — and that 'anyone' can do it Rich, young Americans are ditching the stormy stock market — here are the alternative assets they're banking on instead Robert Kiyosaki warns of a 'Greater Depression' coming to the US — with millions of Americans going poor. But he says these 2 'easy-money' assets will bring in 'great wealth'. How to get in now Here are 5 'must have' items that Americans (almost) always overpay for — and very quickly regret. How many are hurting you? This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
CBC
17-05-2025
- General
- CBC
New homes for dozens of homeless veterans
A new 40-unit permanent housing community for homeless veterans is set to be built in northwest Edmonton. Veterans House Canada is behind the project, which is modelled on a similar facility in Ottawa. Alan Mulawyshyn is a retired brigadier-general and the organization's executive director.
CBS News
11-05-2025
- Health
- CBS News
President Trump signs executive order for more homeless veteran housing at West LA VA campus
President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order aimed at turning the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Campus into the nation's largest center for homeless veteran care. The order directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish the center as the National Center for Warrior Independence, which will offer homeless veterans the chance to seek and receive care, benefits and a range of services, including substance abuse treatment and support for productive work. "Funds previously spent on housing or other services for illegal aliens will be redirected to construct, establish, and maintain this Center," said a release from the White House. By 2028 they hope to house up to 6,000 homeless veterans at the center. The order further instructs the Secretary of Veteran Affairs to "restore accountability" at the Department of Veterans Affairs by "taking action against individuals who have committed misconduct," as well as investigating the previous administration's "decision to rehire and reinstate back pay for employees previously fired for misconduct." "President Trump strongly believes that every veteran deserves our gratitude, and that the federal government should treat veterans like the heroes they are," said the White House's statement. Currently the VA and veterans are in the midst of a legal battle over whether the campus be cleared of non-veteran tenants and used to build housing for the homeless. The VA is has appealed a ruling made in 2024 that it must build nearly 2,000 permanent housing units on the campus for disabled and homeless veterans. "After decades of mismanagement, VA has been leasing parts of its 388-acre West Los Angeles VA Medical Center campus to a wealthy and exclusive private school and the University of California, Los Angeles, baseball team," said a statement from the VA. "Today's executive order will enable us to ensure VA's West Los Angeles Campus is being used as intended: to benefit Veterans. Our goal is to turn the campus into a beacon of hope and a destination for homeless Veterans from across the nation who can travel there to find housing and support and start their journey back to self-sufficiency."
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump orders VA to house 6,000 veterans in a National Center for Warrior Independence in West L.A.
President Trump signed an executive order Friday directing the Department of Veterans Affairs to create a National Warrior Independence Center for homeless veterans on its West Los Angeles campus. The order set a goal of housing up to 6,000 homeless veterans at the center and ordered federal agencies to "ensure that funds that may have been spent on housing or other services for illegal aliens are redirected to construct, establish, and maintain" it. Trump ordered Secretary Doug Collins to prepare an action plan to create the housing by Jan. 1, 2028. He also ordered Collins to report within 60 days on "options like expanding office hours, offering weekend appointments, and increasing the use of virtual healthcare." "Too many veterans are homeless in America," the order said. "Each veteran deserves our gratitude. Yet the Federal Government has not always treated veterans like the heroes they are." Trump criticized the Biden administration for "shamefully, failing veterans when they needed help most and betraying the taxpayers who rightfully expect better." The order comes at a critical moment in a trail of litigation over the VA's management of the campus. A decision is expected any day from the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on a federal judge's ruling that the VA had failed a fiduciary duty to provide housing for veterans. U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter ordered the VA to immediately create about 100 units of temporary housing on the 388-acre campus and to build a total of more than 2,000 units of permanent and temporary housing. He also invalidated leases of portions of that land to civilian entities including UCLA and a private school. The VA appealed the decision contending, in addition to other legal arguments, that the cost would irreparably harm other services to veterans. Although the immediate effect on the case was unclear, veterans took it as a positive sign. "A lot of the veterans I've spoken to so far are very happy to see that the White House has taken this position about the West Los Angeles VA," said Rob Reynolds, an Iraq war veteran who testified in the case about his frustrations helping homeless veterans seeking housing on the campus. "Just to know that there was an executive order signed for more housing on VA land, that's a huge win for us. That's something vets have been fighting for for years." The Veterans Collective, a development and service partnership that has a VA contract to construct about 1,200 units of supportive housing on the campus, issued a statement saying it "enthusiastically applauds President Trump's plan for a national center for homeless veterans" and said it looks forward to welcoming him to the campus soon. The group is working to complete the 1,200 units by the end of Trump's term, it said. "With more than 1,000 Veterans already living on campus today, it would be a wonderful opportunity for them to meet with the Commander-in-Chief," the statement said. "He would also be the first President to see our progress." Another veteran who has been critical of the VA's handling of the campus development was more guarded. "The President's Executive Order is a right thing but not yet the right thing," said Anthony Allman, executive of Vets Advocacy, a nonprofit created to monitor development of a master plan that arose from an earlier lawsuit. Allman contends that the master plan calls for more than just housing and envisions a center of activity and services for veterans on and off the campus. "We look forward to working with the administration to make the right things—housing, community, workforce development— available to veterans at the historic Pacific Branch property," Allman said, using the historic name for the disabled soldiers home created there in the 19th century. In a lengthy preamble, the order delineated that early history through the shuttering of veterans' housing in the 1970s to improper leases of veterans' land that led to the two lawsuits. "The campus once featured a chapel, billiard hall, 1,000-seat theater, and housed about 6,000 veterans, but the Federal Government has since allowed this crown jewel of veteran care to deteriorate over the last few decades," it said. "The Department of Veterans Affairs leased parts of the property to a private school, private companies, and the baseball team of the University of California, Los Angeles, sometimes at significantly below-market prices. "As of 2024, there were approximately 3,000 homeless veterans in Los Angeles, more than in any other city in the country and accounting for about 10 percent of all of America's homeless veterans. Many of these heroes live in squalor in Los Angeles's infamous 'Skid Row.'" Trump called for more accountability, ordering Collins to rectify the Biden's administration's decision to "rehire and reinstate back pay for employees previously fired for misconduct" and to take appropriate action against individuals who have committed misconduct." The order also required an action plan to expand the Manchester VA Medical Center in New Hampshire to a full-service medical center "so that it is no longer the only State in the contiguous United States" without one. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
