U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki announced today that HUD will provide $338,400 to public housing authorities in Massachusetts to supply permanent housing and case management for 32 homeless veterans in the state.

This is the fourth and final round of the fiscal 2010 Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH) funding to support homeless veterans, according to a statement. This time around, Bedford VAMC will receive 32 vouchers to provide housing for one year.

HUD-VASH is a coordinated effort by HUD, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and local housing authorities to provide permanent supportive housing for homeless veterans.

"As our young men and women return from Afghanistan and Iraq, they deserve to be treated with dignity and honor. Yet our nation’s veterans are 50 percent more likely than the average American to become homeless," said HUD Regional Administrator Barbara Fields. "These vouchers continue to get more of our veterans off the streets and out of homeless shelters into permanent housing."