Veterans Village of San Diego and Interfaith Community Services of Escondido were awarded $3 million each Tuesday to help get homeless former military members off the streets.
Hanan Scrapper with the Veterans Village of San Diego knows the population well.
"This is a military town and seeing them on the streets and not being able to provide services to them is really heart breaking. There's so much we can do as a community," Scrapper said.
Veterans Village has been serving San Diego for 33 years now. Starting with the winter homeless shelter then launching its "Stand Down" once a year. Where homeless vets and their families get access to medical, legal and housing assistance. Many of them also go through the rehab program at the Village. Phil Landis is a veteran and longtime CEO of the group.
"We're seeing more and more homeless veterans with families. Young kids in their late 20s, early 30s. More homeless female veterans with children," Landis said.
The grants were among 82 awarded nationwide by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Supportive Services for Veteran Families program. The program, according to the VA, has helped house thousands of veterans and kept others from becoming homeless.
"This is a program that works, because it allows VA staff and local homeless service providers to work together to address the unique challenges that make it difficult for some veterans and their families to remain stably housed," VA Secretary Robert McDonald said.
Nonprofit groups offer services to veterans and their families aimed at getting them public benefits, including money for such things as rent, utility bills and moving costs.
About 17 percent of San Diego's estimated 8,500 homeless people in January were veterans — 2 percent higher than the same time last year.
Nearly 100,000 veterans and family members got some kind of help through the VA in the first two years of the program.
