WASHINGTON – Arizona senior Senator Kyrsten Sinema secured U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers to provide permanent housing to Arizona veterans experiencing homelessness. After the Senator’s team toured Fort Whipple and saw the need for the HUD-VASH vouchers firsthand, Sinema worked directly with HUD to secure the vouchers needed to kickstart the veterans housing project in Fort Whipple.

“Coming from a military family, I take personally my responsibility to deliver for the Arizona veterans who sacrificed to keep us safe and secure. I’m glad to deliver much-needed vouchers to help make housing more affordable and provide certainty and safety to the men and women who bravely served our country,” said Sinema, a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee.

In October 2022 members of Sinema’s staff toured Prescott’s Fort Whipple, alongside veterans groups, affordable housing developers, and VA officials, and saw the need for affordable permanent housing for Arizona veterans experiencing homelessness. Following the tour and discussion with local leaders, Sinema raised the issue directly with HUD and encouraged the Department to award the 84 HUD-VASH vouchers needed to move forward with Fort Whipple’s veterans housing project.

The HUD-VASH program combines HUD’s Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) rental assistance for homeless Veterans with case management and clinical services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). VA provides these services for participating Veterans at VA medical centers (VAMCs), community-based outreach clinics (CBOCs), through VA contractors, or through other VA designated entities.

The HUD-VASH vouchers Sinema secured are project-based, ensuring that they provide consistent, reliable housing at Fort Whipple for Arizona veterans that need it.