$1 Million Grant Boosts Program To Help Veterans Keep Their Homes

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – A program that aims to keep veterans in their homes has been a lifeline in our community over the past decade. That Veterans Affairs program, run by the Road Home, just got a $1 million grant to help Utah veterans.

There are 95 homeless vets in Salt Lake County as of Friday, and workers trying to get them into homes know most of them by name.

If not for the Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program, there would be many more homeless veterans needing help.

“I kind of grew up with the warrior mentality and it just kind of translated straight into the military,” said Jeffery Scott Moore, a Navy veteran who grew up in Salt Lake City.

When he was in the service, he said, the camaraderie was the most valuable aspect of his five years in the Navy. “Knowing there’s always someone at your back to help you up, and there’s always someone you can help, too,” said Moore.

He left the military with a disability and has struggled to keep a job. “I’ve kind of had quite a few bouts with homelessness and joblessness,” Moore said.

That’s where the father of five was a year ago. “I was sleeping in my truck off-and-on between my mom’s couch and my truck,” he said.

Money from the Supportive Services for Veteran Families Program helped his family get into a home before Christmas.

When they were on the verge of losing that home a few months later, the program helped him stay there. “It brings that huge sense of camaraderie that I had in the military that I miss the most,” said Moore.

The VA announced this week that the Road Home would receive another $1 million to help veterans avoid homelessness. A total of $400 million is being distributed nationally.

“Let’s get them housed, and then work on everything else once we’ve got you in a place – whether that’s employment or that’s mental health services. We just want to get you housed first, and we’ll take care of everything else,” said Meredith Vernick, veteran housing supervisor for the Road Home.

During the last five years, they helped 685 veterans find homes and kept nearly 150 vets from losing their homes.

In just the first three months of the pandemic, money from the program housed 27 veterans and kept 11 veterans and their families from losing their homes.

“We’ve been very busy during this pandemic,” said Vernick.

Busy helping improve lives.

“There’s nothing better than running into a human just in the community after they’ve been stably house for a while and getting to check-in,” she said.

“It lifts a huge burden off my back just knowing that no matter what, my boys are taken care of and I can worry about taking care of everything else,” Moore said.

They can help most veterans. Road Home’s SSVF team at 801-918-3278 or 801-793-5043, or by email at veterans@theroadhome.org.