The Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living recently was awarded $152,000 from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for Supportive Services for the Veterans Families Grant Program.

This non-profit organization, established in 1990 in Allentown, serves persons with disabilities.

The center plans to help 50 families with this new program.

"The Supportive Services for Veterans' Families is a program designed to stabilize veterans' families who are homeless or at risk for homelessness," Amy Beck, executive director for the center, announced at a press conference Sept. 28.

The program will provide assistance to veterans and their families in Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Carbon and Monroe counties find stable and permanent housing, she said.

To be eligible for the program, the veteran or someone in the family must have a disability.

They must also meet one of the three target areas: have income 30 percent or below the median income level, have a dependent child under the age of 18 or have fought in Afghanistan or Iraq.

Beck said the critical work the staff will be doing is called intensive case management.

"We will first look at the factors that are keeping a family from finding stable housing," she said. "Once someone has housing, it's easier for them to focus on other issues in their lives."

"Affordable housing remains an issue," Beck said. "Your monthly income could match what your one-bedroom apartment is."

They will also help veterans access VA benefits, teach life skills such as budgeting and cleaning and offer landlord-tenant mediation, Beck said.

"Even though the program emphasize is on intensive case management, there is a small part of the funds available for actual assistance," she said. The program can also help homeowners and renters, Beck stated.

Kristy Gehman, director of core and housing services, who was instrumental in developing the program with help from Eladio Gonzalez, community support coordinator, will oversee the program, Beck said.

Gehman said they worked closely with the Military Affairs Council analyzing census data to identify the needs of veterans in the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas.

"There is a significant need for services among veterans who are at risk of homelessness or are homeless in the Lehigh Valley and surrounding areas," Gehman said. "Their numbers are increasing in rural populations, which is part of the reason we chose Carbon and Monroe and some of those outlying areas."

The grant is for a year and is renewable, she said.

About 10 families have already called the center to inquire about the program, Gonzalez said.

For more information about the program, call Kristy Gehman at 610-770-9781.