Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri aims to help homeless veterans

Catholic Charities of Southern Missouri is stepping up a program to help veterans and their families struggling with housing insecurity, bolstered by Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act funds available through June.

Jeremy Rowland, regional director of CCSOMO who is based in Cape Girardeau, said because of COVID-19, veterans and their families are especially vulnerable.

Rowland said the program is meant to keep veterans and their families in current housing situations, by assisting with utility payments, for example, or placing those who are already homeless into a hotel or motel while CCSOMO case workers locate and work with landlords to find a more permanent solution.

Carrie Hall, a case manager in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, said the need has doubled in recent weeks.

Maura Taylor, executive director for CCSOMO, said this program has been ongoing for five years in 36 counties in southern Missouri.

“We serve typically 125 homeless, or those at risk of homelessness, veterans a year,” Taylor said. “This new money we have for the next two months will allow us to really make some huge impacts.”

Taylor said homeless people are typically medically fragile, and likely don’t have access to medical care. That makes COVID-19 a particular concern.

“We also know many veterans will lose their jobs” in coming months, Taylor said. “This funding will also allow us to ... keep people housed so they aren’t becoming homeless.”

Taylor said CCSOMO works with Veterans Affairs to accept referrals for the program, but anyone interested in finding out more information may contact CCSOMO’s office in Cape Girardeau at (573) 335-0905; Van Buren, Missouri, at (573) 323-4044; or contact caseworker Hill directly at (573) 300-9950.

“We really need people to be referred to us,” Taylor said, as the CARES Act funding must be used by the end of June, and there are rules as to how the money may be used, but it’s important for people to reach out.

The CARES Act funding is coming through the VA for CCSOMO’s Supportive Services for Veteran Families, or SSVF, program, Taylor said.

“It’s a sizable amount of funding that will allow us to serve even more veterans and their families, but we need people to reach out to us during this time,” Taylor said. “We have great case managers with heart who are dedicated to just this program.”