Start Corporation

Transitional Living for Veterans

Service Area: Houma, LA

The following program was awarded grants as part of the Bob Woodruff Foundation’s second 2020 Expedited Grants Portfolio, addressing urgent needs related to COVID-19.

The Houma-Thibodaux communities of coastal Louisiana are home to almost 9,500 veterans and a workforce that relies on industries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In early May 2020, Louisiana State University’s Blanco Public Policy Center reported that the Houma-Thibodaux area’s unemployment rate was 18.3% with forecasts predicting it will rise as high as 25% to 30% as the pandemic drags on through the summer. As the community braces for the sustained economic strain from the shutdown of the economy, the most vulnerable veterans with multiple barriers to housing and self-sufficiency including those with complex medical illnesses, serious mental illness, substance abuse and addiction are at risk of losing the vital services necessary to continue their transition into a healthy home. With an NFL-BWF grant, Start Corporation’s Transitional Living for Veterans program will support 20 veterans experiencing homelessness and assist with their benefit management, reconnecting with family supports, and metal health and substance abuse treatment.