HUD and VA Launch $15 Million Demonstration Program to Prevent Veteran Homelessness

In an effort to prevent homelessness among veterans, primarily those returning from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today announced that both agencies will invest a combined $15 million in five selected communities near military installations. The HUD and VA grant funding is intended to provide housing assistance and supportive services to veterans who might otherwise be living in homeless shelters or on the streets.

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VA Selects Permanent Location for Historic Civil War Monument

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced Dec. 30 that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has selected the Frazier International History Museum in Louisville, Ky., as the new home of the Bloedner Monument, the nation’s oldest Civil War memorial.

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Sec. Shinseki and Other Top Obama Administration Officials Hold Rural Health Community Forum

VA Secretary Eric Shinseki will join three other Cabinet Secretaries in hosting a rural health community forum today in St. John Parish, La., to share information about the federal government’s efforts to rebuild and revitalize rural America, announced the Department of Veteran Affairs in a press release today.

This is the next leg of a tour launched by President Obama, showcasing how communities, states, and the federal government can work together to help strengthen rural America.

The Secretaries for the Departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Labor and Veterans Affairs will listen to local residents’ perspectives and discuss solutions to the challenges facing rural communities during the 90-minute community forum.

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Interagency Council on Homelessness Meets

The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) met today for the first time under the Obama Administration. U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki chaired the meeting, at which U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan was elected rotating Chair for the upcoming year and U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis was elected Vice Chair. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Melody Barnes, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, attended the meeting.

The mission of the USICH is to coordinate the federal response to homelessness and to create a national partnership with every level of government and the private sector to address homelessness in the nation.

“It is simply unacceptable for individuals, children, families, and our nation’s Veterans to be faced with homelessness in this country,” said President Obama. “I am confident that the Interagency Council on Homelessness, under Secretary Donovan’s leadership, will have a renewed focus on coordinating efforts across federal agencies and working closely with our state, local, community-based, and faith-based partners to address these serious issues.”

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President Obama’s 2010 Spending Plan Initiates Transformation for VA Services

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs today announced President Obama’s 2010 budget for VA. The budget emphasizes a Veteran-centric commitment to expanded services with a 15.5 percent increase over 2009, the largest percentage increase for VA requested by a president in more than 30 years.

“Our 2010 budget represents the President’s vision for how VA will transform into a 21st Century organization that is Veteran-centric, results-driven, and forward-looking,” Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki said. “This transformation is demanded by new times, new technologies, new demographic realities, and new commitments to today’s Veterans. It requires a comprehensive review of the fundamentals in every line of operation the Department performs. We must be sure that valuable taxpayer dollars are invested in programs that work for our Veterans.”

The centerpiece of the $112.8 billion VA budget proposal is a dramatic increase in Veteran health care funding, with an 11 percent increase over the current year’s funding (excluding one-time Recovery Act funds).

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Open Letter to Veterans from Sec. Shinseki

My name is Ric Shinseki, and I am a Veteran. For me, serving as Secretary of Veterans Affairs is a noble calling. It provides me the opportunity to give back to those who served with and for me during my 38 years in uniform and those on whose shoulders we all stood as we grew up in the profession of arms.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has a solemn responsibility to all of you, today and in the future, as more Veterans join our ranks and enroll to secure the benefits and services they have earned. I am fully committed to fulfilling President Obama’s vision for transforming our department so that it will be well-positioned to perform this duty even better during the 21st Century. We welcome the assistance and advice of our Veterans Service Organizations, other government departments and agencies, Congress, and all VA stakeholders as we move forward, ethically and transparently, so that Veterans and citizens can understand our efforts.

Creating that vision for transforming the VA into a 21st Century organization requires a comprehensive review of our department. We approach that review understanding that Veterans are central to everything VA does. We know that results count, that the department will be measured by what we do, not what we promise, and that our best days as an organization supporting Veterans are ahead of us. We will fulfill President Lincoln’s charge to care for “. . . him, who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan . . .” by redesigning and reengineering ourselves for the future.

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President’s 2010 Budget Request Strongly Supports VA Programs; Funding Plan Improves Access, Modernizes Technology

President Obama’s first proposed budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) expands eligibility for health care to an additional 500,000 deserving Veterans over the next five years, meets the need for continued growth in programs for the combat Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, and provides the resources to deliver quality health care for the Nation’s 5.5 million Veteran patients.

The 2010 budget request is a significant step toward realizing a vision shared by the President and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki to transform VA into an organization that is people-centric, results-driven and forward-looking.

“Our success must encompass cost-effectiveness,” Shinseki said. “We are stewards of taxpayer dollars, and we will include appropriate metrics to accurately gauge the quality of our care and the effectiveness of our management processes.”

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