Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program

The Jackson Office of Public Housing and Community and Planning Development Office held a HUD-VASH meeting on January 13, 2011. This meeting was hosted in Hattiesburg, Mississippi at the Mississippi Regional Housing Authority VIII Office that is a HUD-VASH Administering Public Housing Authority. The purpose of this meeting was to meet with VA HUD-VASH Coordinators and PHAs while introducing Rapid Re-Housing Agencies and Continuum of Care Providers. There were approximately 20 participants that represented various agencies that would better help serve the homeless veteran population. The Jackson HUD Community and Planning Development Department Director Linda Tynes explained to the group that her office funds the Mississippi Development Authority, who then provides funding for the Continuum of Care Providers or the Rapid Re-Housing Program.


The Rapid Re-housing Program is applicable to the HUD-VASH program because this would provide eligible veterans with necessary funding for their security deposits and utility allowances. Also, the VA staff members explained the VA's Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program which is offered annually (as funding permits) by the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care for Homeless Veterans Programs to fund community agencies providing services to homeless Veterans. The purpose is to promote the development and provision of supportive housing and/or supportive services with the goal of helping homeless Veterans achieve residential stability, increase their skill levels and/or income, and obtain greater self-determination. This program provides these services for up to 24