U.S. CONGRESSMAN MIKE THOMPSON | REPRESENTING CALIFORNIA'S FIFTH DISTRICT

Washington, DC, Mar 30, 2012 - Congressman Mike Thompson (CA-01) today announced a $445,331 federal grant that will help provide permanent housing and support to veterans in Sonoma County. The grant, provided through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), will be awarded to the Santa Rosa VA Outpatient Clinic. The funds will be used as vouchers to provide rental assistance for homeless and disabled veterans.

“One out of six men and women living in our shelters once served our country in uniform,” said Thompson. “This is a disgrace. We can and must do better. I am proud to have voted to make these grants possible, but we still have more work to do. I am committed to ending veteran homelessness, and these grants will help us find permanent housing solutions for our nation’s heroes.”

“As a community based veteran’s service organization it is extremely important for us to have this funding for Sonoma County veterans. In conjunction and collaboration with the Veterans Administration we are able utilize our VA funded Supportive Services Veteran Family grant to assist those veterans who will receive these vouchers. Our goal is to assist homeless veterans move into an affordable permanent housing units and to help prevent a veterans from becoming homeless; North Bay Veterans Resource Center would like to thank Congressman Mike Thompson for all his hard work on this issue and a thank you to all those who have made this grant award possible,” said Don Wrestler, Site Director of the North Bay Veterans Resource Center.

The permanent supportive housing assistance grants are provided through HUD’s Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH), a program administered by HUD, VA, and local housing agencies to provide permanent housing with case management and other supportive services for homeless veterans across the country.

The grants are part of $75 million appropriated for Fiscal Year 2012 to support the housing needs of approximately 10,500 homeless veterans nationwide.


Congressman Mike Thompson is proud to represent California’s 1st Congressional District, which includes the Counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Sonoma, Napa, and Yolo. He is a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Rep. Thompson is also a member of the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Coalition and sits on the bipartisan, bicameral Congressional Wine Caucus.