This is complicated material. Thank you for your excellent reporting. It sounds as if Vets are made to accept a poorer deal to get vouchers or permanent housing into younger people's hands, is that it?
Also, excuse my ignorance, but why are these organizations bidding huge sums of money to provide interim shelter to Vets? This seems so convoluted. City, county or state funded organizations offering payment to the federally funded VA? Am I missing something?
The veterans were removed from the cottages (where they were in a program that linked them with permanent housing vouchers) and referred to a congregate armory shelter in Bell (some likely ended up at Echo Park Lake) so that LAHSA (who outbid the VA on the cottages) could move families into them. Ever since the veterans’ program closed, the federal government stopped awarding HUD-VASH vouchers to Los Angeles, so no veterans are getting permanently housed (except for when one gives up a voucher for another to claim).
In part 2, I explain how Heidi Marston left the VA in February 2019 and started at LAHSA as a chief program officer in the same month. The veterans were removed from the cottages in April. Then Marston was promoted to acting CEO and CEO. I speculate that Heidi Marston took the Gateways contract with her and was rewarded
This is complicated material. Thank you for your excellent reporting. It sounds as if Vets are made to accept a poorer deal to get vouchers or permanent housing into younger people's hands, is that it?
Also, excuse my ignorance, but why are these organizations bidding huge sums of money to provide interim shelter to Vets? This seems so convoluted. City, county or state funded organizations offering payment to the federally funded VA? Am I missing something?
The veterans were removed from the cottages (where they were in a program that linked them with permanent housing vouchers) and referred to a congregate armory shelter in Bell (some likely ended up at Echo Park Lake) so that LAHSA (who outbid the VA on the cottages) could move families into them. Ever since the veterans’ program closed, the federal government stopped awarding HUD-VASH vouchers to Los Angeles, so no veterans are getting permanently housed (except for when one gives up a voucher for another to claim).
In part 2, I explain how Heidi Marston left the VA in February 2019 and started at LAHSA as a chief program officer in the same month. The veterans were removed from the cottages in April. Then Marston was promoted to acting CEO and CEO. I speculate that Heidi Marston took the Gateways contract with her and was rewarded
Shocking chicanery that should be investigated too by LAT. Thank you, Ruth.