Tester, Baucus announce housing assistance for Montana veterans

Senators continue efforts to support veterans, provide better opportunities

(U.S. SENATE) – Senators Jon Tester and Max Baucus today announced that Montana will receive more than $300,000 to provide housing opportunities to homeless veterans.

The $325,181 grant for housing vouchers comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s popular Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program. The initiative works with local housing and support groups to provide eligible homeless veterans with services that aid recovery from physical and mental health conditions resulting from homelessness.

“This assistance goes a long way in helping us live up to our responsibilities to Montana’s veterans,” said Tester, Montana’s only member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “More Montana veterans are coming home every day, and we have to make sure they have the tools they need to succeed. Sometimes that starts with a safe place to live so they can find work, go to school and care for themselves and their families.”

“Our veterans deserve to come home to good-paying jobs and a nation that honors their sacrifices,” said Baucus. “There are few better investments than circling around veterans who are homeless to give them the tools they need to lead healthy and whole lives.”

To be eligible for this program, veterans must qualify for VA Health Care, they must be homeless, and they must participate in case management services in order to receive permanent independent community housing.

Tester, who has previously fought to increase veterans’ housing options and improve their health care, recently kicked off his first hearing as chairman of the Governmental Affairs subcommittee that oversees the federal workforce by making sure that VA officials are meeting their goal of hiring 1,600 new mental health professionals.