Governor Larry Hogan Attends Ribbon Cutting for HELP Veterans Village at Perry Point VA Medical Center

For immediate release:
August 23, 2018
Contact:
Shareese Churchill
shareese.churchill@maryland.gov
410-974-2316

Governor Larry Hogan Attends Ribbon Cutting for HELP Veterans Village at Perry Point VA Medical Center
Project Creates 75 Housing Units for Homeless Veterans

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Governor Larry Hogan today participated in a ribbon cutting for the HELP Veterans Village located at the Perry Point VA Medical Center. The governor was joined by Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development Secretary Kenneth C. Holt, officials from the Veterans Affairs (VA) Maryland Health Care System and HELP USA, as well as veterans and community stakeholders. Located in Cecil County, the new facility features 75 newly renovated and newly constructed units of energy-efficient housing for at-risk and formerly homeless veterans.

“The brave men and women who will be served by this community have earned the very best care and support and that is exactly what they will receive at HELP Veterans Village at Perry Point,” said Governor Hogan. “This is a shining example of what can be accomplished when the state, local, and federal governments work together with nonprofits in the private sector, and it is just one more way that together, we are changing Maryland for the better.”

Developed by HELP USA, a national homeless services and low-income housing nonprofit, HELP Veterans Village is ideally situated because of its close proximity to a full range of VA support programs and services at Perry Point, including individual case management. The village also provides residents convenient access to the local community’s transportation resources.

“HELP USA has been working on this project for almost a decade and we are excited to have reached the finish line,” said David Cleghorn, Senior Vice President of Real Estate Development at HELP USA. “As we speak, formerly homeless veterans are living in brand-new homes surrounded by clinical support and services from the VA, case management from HELP USA, and most importantly by each other, a group of like-minded veterans beginning their new lives. This project shows what is possible when people from the public and private sectors work together and refuse to give up.”

“Providing affordable housing on the Perry Point VA Medical Center campus allows veterans to live close to the wide range of VA supportive services they need to live full, healthy and productive lives,” said Dr. Adam M. Robinson, Jr., director of the VA Maryland Health Care System. “It’s truly an honor for us to be able to serve the men and women who have worn the cloth of our nation in this way.”

The State of Maryland supported HELP Veterans Village through several Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development programs and resources, including short-term and long term bond financing, 4 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, a Rental Housing Works loan, and energy-efficiency funding that enabled the village to install a solar panel array to achieve net zero energy consumption. The department will also administer 75 project-based VA Supportive Housing Vouchers from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

“HELP Veterans Village is just one example of the Hogan administration’s ongoing efforts to prevent homelessness in Maryland,” said Secretary Holt. “We will continue to work with government, local, and nonprofit partners to connect those in need with appropriate housing, services and support.”

“No man or woman who has honorably served our country should go without a safe and permanent place to call home,” said Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary George Owings. “On behalf of the Department, I would like to thank HELP USA as well as our federal, state, and local partners for making this project possible.”

Since its founding in 1986, HELP USA has built Low-Income Housing Tax Credit properties and developed over 2,000 units of transitional and permanent housing in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Nevada. Additional financing for HELP Veterans Village comes from philanthropic support from The Home Depot Foundation, The Citi Foundation, and Northrop Grumman.

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