Fed Bill Boosts $ For Homeless Vets

Army Reserve veteran David Germaine took a break from applying for jobs Thursday morning to stand alongside the top Democrat on the Senate Veteran Affairs Committee — at a Hill press conference celebrating a bipartisan funding boost designed to help keep a roof over the heads of homeless vets like Germaine.

That press conference took place on the front steps of Harkness House, a 14-bed transitional housing facility run by Columbus House and located at 138 Davenport Ave.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the incoming ranking member of the Senate Veteran Affairs Committee, convened the presser to tout the House and Senate passage of the Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act.

Among many other provisions, that omnibus federal veteran affairs bill will increase the per diem compensation rate for homelessness services orgs like Columbus House from 115 percent to 133 percent of a federally set ​“domiciliary care” rate. The bill also empowers the federal veteran affairs secretary to increase that compensation rate to as much as 200 percent for select facilities.

Aime DeMusis, Columbus House’s director of veteran services, said that the local homelessness services nonprofit currently gets paid around $65 per bed per day for the housing and other case management services it provides for the 14 male homeless veterans residing at Harkness House. Under this bill, that daily reimbursement rate should increase by about 15 percent. In addition to providing a bed for up to two years, depending on the individual, Harkness House’s wraparound supports include help with security deposits, rental assistance, and car repairs for homeless vet residents.

This may sound like a ​“very technical and abstruse” provision to celebrate, Blumenthal said during Thursday’s press conference. But increasing the amount of money that the federal government sends to organizations like Columbus House for the services they provide for homeless vets will go a long way towards ensuring that these residents make their way back into more stable housing.

“We must stop veteran homelessness,” he said. Venues like Harkness House provide the services necessary for residents to go from ​“homelessness to shelters to transitional housing to permanent housing,” he said. ​“For one veteran to be homeless is a shame and disgrace for this country.”

After the presser, on his way back inside Harkness House, Germaine paused to express his gratitude for the mere existence of the transitional housing facility he’s called home for the past month.

Born and raised in the Bristol area, Germaine said he served in the Army Reserve for four years back in the 1980s. He previously worked as an electrician, and said he can still recall a time in his life when it would have been unimaginable that he’d end up homeless. Then the Great Recession hit, and times got tough. 

He said his housing situation never got dire enough that he was sleeping on the street or in a car; nevertheless, being able to stay at Harkness House and work with Columbus House staffers has been invaluable as he tries to get back on his feet. He’s now looking for work — not as an electrician, but perhaps in the world of delivery and logistics. At 61, he said he’s getting too old to return to his previous line of work.

“The fact that it’s here, and gives you a chance to get back on track,” has been a great help, he said about Harkness House. ​“I’m grateful for what I get.” He praised everyone who works at the transitional housing facility as ​“very professional.”