HOLMDEL, NJ — New Jersey leaders on Monday launched a new initiative aimed at ending homelessness among veterans.
It’s an effort to curb a major problem in the Garden State.
Acting Governor Way commends the “Bringing Veterans Home” initiative
During a Veterans Day ceremony at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial & Museum in Holmdel, Acting Governor Tahesha Way announced the new initiative called “Bringing Veterans Home.”
“It will place more than a thousand homeless New Jersey veterans into stable housing over the next two years. So yes and amen,” Way said.
The program will partner veterans services with the state to begin outreach in early 2025.
“It is important that those who sacrifice so much for their fellow Americans never have to go without safe and stable shelter,” Way said.
“It’s a first step. That’s all”
Officials have allocated nearly $31 million in state and federal funding to pay for this initiative and estimate there are 1,164 homeless veterans in New Jersey.
“I’m really shocked that the government hasn’t done more to care for these people from the moment they came home,” said Vietnam veteran Allen Rothman.
Rothman, a volunteer guide at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans Memorial & Museum, said the new initiative is a long-awaited step forward to protect those who protected us.
“It’s a first step. That’s it. There’s a lot more to be done,” Rothman said.
