News: Housing For Long Island Vets
(Long Island, N.Y.) The Nassau County Executive, Edward Mangano, has welcomed the completion of the first house to be renovated in Nassau County’s Mitchell Field. The house will be one of forty-two of its kind to serve as homes to Nassau County veterans. Former members of the United States military will have the opportunity to reside among the twenty-three acre property in Nassau County.
Nassau County gained ownership of the property from the United States Navy earlier this year. Reports stated that an estimated sixty homes are located there, and that each home costs roughly seventeen thousand dollars to renovate. The costs of the renovations will be covered by the rent fees.
The homes available are three-bedroom duplexes, four of which were unveiled in East Garden City. The county executive had the honor of cutting the ribbon and stated that he hoped that the program will catch on across the nation. Sources claimed that Nassau County officials are attempting to work with the United Stated Department of Veteran Affairs and the Community Development Corporation of Long Island.
The goal is to determine eligibility for the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program. Factors like income and other grounds for eligibility will be examined to see who qualifies. Reports stated that eighteen houses have been reserved for active duty personnel, some of whom have been already placed in housing and have begun paying rent.
One recipient of the housing program is a sixty-two-year-old Master Sergeant from Manhattan. He retired from service in 1992 after twenty-eight years in the United States Army. Six weeks ago, he was able to move into the first home to be renovated in the area.
Sources claimed that he had spent time living in the Dominican Republic and was a maintenance supervisor over the last five years. He operated on combative equipment used in Iraq, but could not find work in the United States in 2009. His fourteen-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter will also live in the recently renovated house after time spent in other living environments.
His wife died last year and he was able to move into his sister’s home in Uniondale before her death in recent months. Like another recipient of the program, a thirty-seven-year-old female veteran, he had experienced what it was like to be homeless. A staggering number of United States veterans make up the homeless population across the nation.
Some followers of the story have been skeptical of the program. They have claimed that the outreach towards veterans is executed for self-serving purposes. They believe that service veterans are kept appeased out of fear they will challenge the establishment/administration and authoritative forces.
