By Lookout Staff

June 30, 2010 -- Since his initial run for City Council in 2004, Mayor Bobby Shriver has aggressively called for three vacant buildings on the Veterans Administration (VA) grounds in Westwood to be used to house and treat some of Los Angeles County’s homeless veterans. It was publicly revealed this week that one of those buildings would receive funding for such a project.

Secretary of Veteran Affairs Eric Shinseki announced earlier this month during a meeting at Sen. Diane Feinstein’s Washington D.C. office that he had approved $20 million in funding to rehabilitate a three-story, 46,000-square-foot facility known as Building 209. This is one of the three buildings on the grounds dedicated for homeless services. Once restored, “it will provide critical housing, medical care, mental health treatment and special-needs services to chronically homeless veterans in Los Angeles,” a press release from Feinstein’s office states. The project is expected to be completed by 2012.

The building will be converted into apartments that could serve up to 90 homeless veterans. There are an estimated 6,500 homeless veterans in Los Angeles County. According to Feinstein’s office, it is one of the largest populations of homeless veterans in the nation.

The meeting at Feinstein’s office was attended by Congressman Henry Waxman and Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. The three officials announced Shinseki’s decision in a joint statement on Monday.

“Veterans have provided a great service to our nation, and it is our responsibility to support them in return,” Feinstein said. “The therapeutic housing project at the West Los Angeles VA facility offers the promise of refuge and resources for chronically homeless veterans in the region, yet it has been a long, drawn-out process to see it brought to fruition.”

Waxman said, “This action will provide critical long-term therapeutic housing that is long overdue.”

Yaroslavsky added, “This project marks a milestone in addressing this issue.” The supervisor noted Shriver’s efforts in an article appearing on his web site. According to the article, Shriver released a statement that Shinseki’s decision was “fantastic news,” but the mayor was cautious not to cheer too loudly.

“We won’t say congratulations until the first homeless veteran is housed and receiving treatment,” the article quoted Shriver as saying.

Late last year a $133.9 billion federal spending package for military construction and veterans affairs was signed into law that included $50 million for renovating empty buildings to providing housing and services for homeless veterans. This created some optimism that at least some of the money could go toward a project at the Westwood facility. Yaroslavsky in an interview with the Lookout News called the situation “a breakthrough” (See: Program to Help Homeless Vets Funding , June 13, 2010.)

There is no funding for the other two buildings dedicated to homeless services on the VA property. Shinseki said at the meeting that he will work to find money for those buildings. Money will also be needed to operate the facilities.

Previous attempts to gain funding for the building renovations have failed. This includes seeking money from the private sector.