The number of veterans experiencing homelessness is likely to increase drastically when the federal eviction moratorium expires at the end of this month, according to advocate groups and federal officials, Military.com reported.
“Nearly 15 million Americans have accrued over $50 billion in missed rental payments, and veterans are among them,” Kathryn Monet, CEO of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, told Congress this week. “They will immediately be added to the ‘at-risk’ category of homelessness if unable to access enough emergency rent assistance or other homelessness prevention funding.”
Monet urged lawmakers to temporarily extend the moratorium, which was implemented to protect renters impacted by the pandemic and has been extended multiple times.
Officials from the departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development also warned about the dramatic increase in homelessness among veterans.
VA and HUD plan to increase funding for rental assistance and boost the number of supportive housing vouchers by 70,000, a HUD official told lawmakers.
Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Kathryn E. Macdonald