Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced the award of nearly $300 million in grants that will help approximately 120,000 homeless and at-risk veterans and their families. The grants have been awarded to 319 community agencies in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Under the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program, VA is awarding grants to private non-profit organizations and consumer cooperatives that provide services to very low-income veteran families living in — or transitioning to — permanent housing. The SSVF program supports VA’s efforts to prevent at-risk veterans from becoming homeless and rapidly re-house those who have recently fallen into homelessness.

With the grants, those community organizations will provide a range of services that promote housing stability and play a role in connecting veterans and their family members to VA services such as mental health care and other benefits. Community-based groups can offer temporary financial assistance on behalf of veterans for rent payments, utility payments, security deposits and moving costs.

For more information about VA’s homeless programs go to www.va.gov/homeless