Moneyis coming to all 50 states from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development & the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to help combat homelessness among veterans. The $1.5 million coming to Illinois is allocated mostly to Chicago. NPR Illinois spoke with Christine Haley about what it means for homeless vets in the state overall, she's the associate director of the Illinois branch of the Corporation for Supportive Housing:
Haley says the money is a help: "Those are new funds coming to our state ... Illinois continues to make good progress in ending veteran's homelessness." Haley points to efforts like Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel signing on to the 'Mayors Challenge to End Veteran's Homelessness.'
Still, the state budget impasse is a major obstacle when it comes to that goal. Says Haley: "What's happening now with the state budget, supportive housing programs have not received the services dollars that they need to be able to maintain their programs. So they are dipping into their reserves, agencies aren't able to maintain the units that they currently have ... In Illinois all of the gains that we've made are in jeopardy."
