Belmont Housing Resources for WNY has received an increase in the number of rental assistance vouchers it can make available to area veterans being served by the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development/Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) Program.

Administered regionally by Belmont in partnership with the Veterans Administration of WNY Healthcare System since 1992, the VASH Program provides expedited housing assistance and counseling to veterans facing challenges ranging from psychological and substance abuse issues to homelessness. With this latest addition of 25 vouchers, the organization will now have the ability to assist 155 veterans through this program.

According to Belmont Housing Specialist Sean Lindstrom, based on the organization's strong relationship with the VA and its high utilization of those it had already been allocated, 70 additional VASH vouchers were awarded to Belmont in mid 2009. Those resources enabled the organization to begin offering the program across Western New York, Lindstrom says, where Belmont now assists veterans in Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Genesee and Orleans as well as in Erie and Niagara counties.

He also points out that this expansion has coincided with a marked rise in the number of requests for VASH assistance coming from younger veterans, many of whom served in recent Middle Eastern conflicts as Lindstrom himself did. "Regardless of their age or personal challenges," Lindstrom notes, "by helping them secure suitable affordable housing, VASH positively influences the quality and direction of veterans' lives." He cites the VASH experience of Army veteran Eddie Howard as an example of just how dramatic that change can be.

"Eddie had struggled for years with chronic health problems," Lindstrom explains, "including diabetes, hypertension, the loss of his lower right leg and more than 30 years in alcohol and drug recovery. With only a small pension to live on, he found himself permanently disabled and homeless in 2002. But after learning about the program while volunteering at the VA helping other homeless vets apply for aid, he turned to VASH and Belmont for help."

"Belmont was there when I needed them most," recalls Howard, whose VASH voucher finally enabled him to afford an apartment. "Without their help, I honestly don't think I would've made it," he says - particularly not to where he is today. From the fresh start VASH gave him, Howard has gone on to work fulltime for a South Buffalo-based community ministry that shelters and counsels other men now homeless just as he once was.

"And by applying the skills the program taught him to help prevent that from ever happening again, Lindstrom adds, "he saved enough money to buy a house this past December right in the neighborhood he was now working to improve... completing a journey that took him from homelessness to hope to owning a home of his own." Working with participants who are all on similar journeys, he says, "VASH often must travel a long road to get them the help they need," a challenge embraced by the program's committed staff.

Lindstrom explains that he and VA caseworkers travel - sometimes considerable distances - to meet personally with veterans, fill out their paperwork, talk with their prospective landlords and inspect the places they're looking to rent. "But knowing that in a matter of just a few hours, we can help a veteran go from being on the street or in a shelter to having a decent place to live makes it more than worth whatever time and effort it takes. After all," he says, "they need and deserve a home. Everyone does."

Belmont Housing Resources for WNY is a multi-service non-profit agency committed to expanding the availability of quality, affordable housing and improving quality of life for families and communities throughout the region. More information about VASH and Belmont's other housing-related programs is available at (716) 884-7791/TDD 711 or on-line at www.belmonthousingwny.org.