Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s FY 2024 budget will include an additional $2 million in grant funding for organizations that provide services for veterans experiencing homelessness in Michigan. The announcement is set to be made by Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency Director Adam Hollier and State Rep. Jason Morgan at events in Detroit and Ann Arbor.
These roundtable events will include community members, veteran service organizations, and groups serving homeless veterans. The discussions will focus on the $2 million budget allocation for the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency (MVAA).
The first event is scheduled for Tuesday, July 25, hosted by Hollier and Morgan (D-Ann Arbor) at the Clay Apartments Neighborhood Service Organization (NSO) in Detroit.
“Michigan’s veteran homelessness crisis is completely fixable, and we must do everything we can to solve it,” said Hollier. “We’re bringing together organizations and community members who work directly with this population to hear what tools they need to succeed so the MVAA can bridge that gap. These veterans have given so much for their country, and we must work together to make sure every veteran has a safe place to call home.”
This $2 million allocation is a one-time budget allocation for grant funding to organizations that work with veterans experiencing homelessness in Michigan. While State Rep. Morgan has expressed hopes for additional funding in future budgets, the immediate focus is on this initial grant.
“The FY 2024 State Budget makes historic investments in our veterans,” said Rep. Morgan, chair of the House Department of Military and Veteran Affairs appropriations subcommittee. “From new programs to reduce veteran homelessness and suicide, to infrastructure upgrades at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, this budget invests back into those who have served our country.”
In 2022, 2,342 veterans were reported homeless in Michigan according to the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). However, Erika Hoover, the MVAA’s women veterans and special populations coordinator, suggests that the actual number might be much higher. HUD estimates that on any given night, 40,056 veterans are homeless across the U.S, and about twice that many experience homelessness over a year.
Another roundtable discussion is set for August 9 in Rep. Morgan’s district in Ann Arbor. More details on that event will be announced soon.