SIGN OF THE TIMES: NEW YORK BUDGET CUTS WOULD CLOSE HOMELESS VET SHELTERS -- "We're in a war and they are coming back home. This is not the time to cut these funds." -- VA Watchdog dot Org - VA NEWS FLASH

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SIGN OF THE TIMES: NEW YORK BUDGET CUTS WOULD

CLOSE HOMELESS VET SHELTERS -- "We're in a war and they

are coming back home. This is not the time to cut these funds."

For more about homeless veterans, click here...
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Shelters for veterans would close under Paterson cuts

BY MARTIN C. EVANS

Leaders of a network of shelters for Suffolk's homeless veterans say they would have to close if forced to bear a proportional share of budget cuts proposed by Gov. David A. Paterson.

Suffolk County United Veterans, whose eight shelters provide housing and counseling services to 60 homeless veterans per day on a budget of $400,000 per year, say such a cut would carve about $96,000 from their annual spending.

"Those funds are our life support," said Wilkens Young, the organization's director.

Matt Anderson, a spokesman for the governor's budget office, said Paterson has proposed a $4.8 million cut from the $20.9 million the state now spends on single-room occupancy housing often used to accommodate homeless veterans. Anderson said no final decision has been made on the cuts and that the president's stimulus package could spare some programs.

Veterans make up about one in three homeless men, and homeless vets often suffer from mental illness or substance abuse problems, according to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.

Advocates of the shelters say cuts to homeless services would place an undue burden on troubled veterans just as war in Iraq and Afghanistan is increasing their numbers.

"We're in a war and they are coming back home," said Suffolk Legis. Kate Browning, (WF, Third District) whose son is headed for his third deployment this month. "This is not the time to cut these funds."

Browning said Albany should consider alternatives to cuts she says tilt against some of society's most vulnerable populations.

Tom Ronayne, Suffolk County's Veterans Service Agency director, said his agency typically refers more than a dozen veterans each year to the shelter network. "They are an important resource," Ronayne said.

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posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org
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