The COVID-19 pandemic hit our community veterans hard. Shelters were closing their doors. This made it difficult for people to get the resources they needed.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, more people needed money for housing. The SSVF program needed to hire 10 more people to help get more people into housing. They helped stay in touch with participants and made sure they had housing and financial stability
The CARES Act impact
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Coronavirus Response and Consolidated Appropriations Act gave fast and direct help to Americans.
The CARES Act awarded Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) more funding. This funding helped veterans get emergency rental help and housing relief.
The CARES Act funds paid for the 10 new team members. These extra members of the SSVF program proved to have a major impact in helping participants. They managed program requirements with dozens of weekly emergency housing requests. They also helped participants who still needed financial help beyond the typical period.
It takes a team
SSVF used that for safe and short-term housing solutions for prompt help. The program was also able to tap into a funding program to help people who are homeless get into temporary housing. The program was able to house 173 veterans.
However, there were time limits on how long the program could help someone with emergency housing. For a single veteran, housing placement could not go beyond 72 hours unless there were no shelter beds. A person using this support could only use it once in two years and for a maximum of 45 days. The Stafford Act helps with aid and rules about aid in disasters. So the rules were lifted, which has been helping people with long-term housing solutions.
The SSVF team is proud of how many people they were able to help in 2021. Despite the challenges like the housing market and the COVID-19 pandemic, the SSVF team continued to navigate in a creative and unique way. They built stronger community partnerships and stayed flexible and adaptable through all the changes. This shows their commitment to SSVF’s mission.