Allentown, Pa., May 13, 2021—Lehigh Valley Community Foundation recently issued $195,000 in grants to four area nonprofits providing services for homeless veterans. The Lehigh Valley Homeless Veteran Fund grants support projects that address transitional and supportive housing needs of homeless veterans in the Lehigh Valley; veteran-centric case management:/counseling in relation to housing, employment, finance, and life-skills; or other veteran-oriented programs.
Nonprofit organizations receiving grants in 2021 include:
Catholic Charities
Catholic Charities Supportive Services for Veteran Families
Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living (LVCIL)
SALUTE (Support with Assistance, Learning, Unity, Transition and Employment)
New Bethany Ministries
Homeless Veterans Housing Assistance
Victory House of Lehigh Valley
Veteran Service-Intensive Transitional Housing Program
Lehigh County government established the Lehigh Valley Homeless Veteran Fund at the Community Foundation in 2019 to provide grants to charitable organizations for programs supporting homeless veterans in the Lehigh Valley. The county established a committee of five people with experience in veterans’ services or housing programs, finance and administration to allocate the money in grants to charitable organizations for services for homeless veterans in the Valley. In 2020, the Fund distributed $30,000 in grants to Catholic Charities, Safe Harbor of Easton, and Victory House for programs supporting homeless veterans.
This 2021 round of Lehigh Valley Homeless Veterans Fund grants were made possible thanks to state grant funding secured by Senate Appropriations Chairman Pat Browne (16th District) in 2020, which was the largest state commitment specifically targeted towards assisting homeless veterans in the Lehigh Valley. “Tragically, many of our country’s brave men and women find themselves without stable housing or are living on the street,” Senator Browne said. “These resources from the Lehigh Valley Homeless Veteran Fund will help to ensure that pathways to sustainable housing, job placement and mental health services are available to our area’s homeless veterans’. I want to thank all of the community and agency partners throughout the Lehigh Valley working to help those who have courageously served our nation.”
“It’s been a struggle over the past several years to find funding to overcome the federal cuts,” noted Thomas Applebach, Director of the Lehigh County Office of Veterans Affairs and Chair of the committee that oversees the grants.“This money is helping our partner agencies sustain their programs to house our homeless vets and help to fund new and innovative programs,” he continued. “We thank Senator Pat Browne and the state of Pennsylvania for enabling us to provide these significant grants to support homeless veterans in our area.”
For more information or to make a gift to the fund, visit the Lehigh Valley Homeless Veterans Fund page on the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation website.
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Media Contacts:
Michael Wilson
Director of Communications, Lehigh Valley Community Foundation
484-695-3277 wilson@lvcfoudation.org
Thomas L. Applebach, MPA
Director, Office of Veterans Affairs, County of Lehigh
610-782-3295 ThomasApplebach@lehighcounty.org
Matt Szuchyt
Deputy Director of Policy & Communications
Office of Senator Pat Browne
610-821-8468 mszuchyt@pasen.gov