Hines Hospital Selected as Future Site for Veteran Housing

The Department of Veterans Affairs has entered agreements to provide more than 3,000 units of permanent and transitional housing for Veterans at 25 VA medical center campuses nationwide.  A 120-unit permanent housing complex will be constructed within the next two years on 5.2 acres of the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital as part of this  agreement.

Proposed opportunities include housing for homeless Veterans, senior Veterans, disabled Veterans, other at-risk Veteran populations, and their families.

"We are thrilled that the Chicago-area and the Hines campus have been selected as a site for these Veteran housing units,” said Sharon Helman, Hines Hospital Director. “Our Veterans are our nation’s heroes.  We owe it to them to take care of all their needs and these housing units will allow us to help them when they need it the most.”

The nationwide agreements are part of VA’s Building Utilization Review and Repurposing (BURR) initiative.  BURR is a VA strategic effort to identify and repurpose unused VA land and buildings in support of VA’s goal to end Veteran homelessness. VA is using its enhanced-use lease authority to permit third-party providers to finance, design, develop, maintain and operate housing with on-site supportive services, on a priority basis, for Veterans and their families.
      

The co-location of these projects on VAMC campuses ensures that Veterans have ready access to care and treatment designed to help them attain long-term independence and self-sufficiency. An estimated total of 5,300 units of affordable and supportive housing will be provided to Veterans. This number includes projects already in operation or underway.

VA is proceeding with agreements with third-party providers at 25 sites nationwide.

These sites and proposed developments include:
* Canandaigua, N.Y. – 48 transitional and permanent housing units
* Fort Howard, Md. – 1,437 housing units
* Lyons, N.J. – 62 permanent housing units
* Newington, Conn. – 74 permanent housing units
* Alexandria, La. – 70 transitional housing units
* Kerrville, Texas – 100 units of assisted living/extended care housing
* Knoxville, Iowa – 75 units of permanent housing
* Newington, Conn. – 100 units of assisted living/extended care housing
* Northampton, Mass. – 48 permanent housing units
* Roseburg, Ore. – 44 permanent and 10 transitional housing units
* Bath, N.Y. – 40 permanent and transitional housing units
* Battle Creek, Mich. – 100 permanent housing units
* Bedford, Mass. – 70 permanent housing units
* Brockton, Mass.  – 14 permanent housing units
* Fort Harrison, Mont. – 100 permanent housing units
* Hines, Ill. – 120 permanent housing units
* Menlo Park, Calif. – 60 permanent housing units
* Minneapolis, Minn. – 58 permanent housing units
* Northport, N.Y.  – 110 permanent housing units
* Sacramento, Calif. – 99 bed nursing care facility
* Spokane, Wash. – 60 units of assisted living
* St. Cloud, Minn. – 35 permanent housing units
* Togus, Maine – 50 permanent housing units
* Tuscaloosa, Ala. – 26 permanent housing units
* Vancouver, Wash. – 42 permanent housing units. 

For additional information regarding the BURR initiative, please visit http://www.va.gov/ASSETMANAGEMENT/index.asp.

Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital Public Affairs Office

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