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babylonsister

(170,963 posts)
Fri Jan 30, 2015, 10:59 AM Jan 2015

This Massive New Project Is Great News for Homeless Vets in Los Angeles

More of this!

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2015/01/va-housing-homeless-veterans-west-los-angeles-medical-center

This Massive New Project Is Great News for Homeless Vets in Los Angeles

—By Gabrielle Canon
| Thu Jan. 29, 2015 5:19 PM EST


After a three-year legal battle, the US Department of Veterans Affairs announced on Wednesday that it will rededicate its giant West Los Angeles Medical Center campus to provide much-needed housing and services for the city's homeless veterans.

The announcement stems from a settlement in a 2011 lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of disabled veterans. The Los Angeles property, nearly 400 acres, was deeded to the federal government in 1888 to house veterans with disabilities. Instead, the campus, which is located in an affluent area, has been used for commercial rental agreements with, among others, entertainment companies, UCLA, and hotel laundry services. According to NPR, Veterans Affairs had accepted between $28 million and $40 million in leasing agreements that a federal judge ruled illegal.

The settlement includes a plan, set for completion by October, to build long-term housing combined with support services designed to help ensure that the formerly homeless, especially veterans who are physically and mentally disabled, remain housed.

The effort is part of a larger Obama administration initiative to house all homeless vets by the end of 2015. Los Angeles has the nation's highest number of homeless vets—more than 3,700—and the newly announced plan could go a long way toward solving the problem.

"This agreement offers VA a historic opportunity to build new community relationships in Los Angeles and continue the work needed to end veteran homelessness here," Veteran's Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald said in a statement. "VA is proud of the progress we've made in ending veteran homelessness—down 33 percent since 2010—but we won't be satisfied until every veteran has a home."

more...

http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2015/01/va-housing-homeless-veterans-west-los-angeles-medical-center

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This Massive New Project Is Great News for Homeless Vets in Los Angeles (Original Post) babylonsister Jan 2015 OP
Great news. A-Schwarzenegger Jan 2015 #1
There were posts on this a while back and the Obama administration took steps to remedy this wrong. freshwest Jan 2015 #2

freshwest

(53,661 posts)
2. There were posts on this a while back and the Obama administration took steps to remedy this wrong.
Sat Jan 31, 2015, 05:15 AM
Jan 2015
Glad to see that this has finally come to fruition after it'd been allowed to be mis-used by the rich and corporations for so long! Thanks for the update!

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