Mountain Views News          Saturday, April 28, 2012

16

BUSINESS NEWS & TRENDS

 Mountain Views News Saturday, April 28, 2012 


President Obama, 
First Lady Honored 
for Leadership 
to End Veteran 
Homelessness

By National Coalition for Homeless 
Veterans

 

PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National 
Coalition for Homeless Veterans 
has announced that President Barack 
Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama 
have been selected as recipients of the 
2012 Jerald Washington Memorial 
Founders' Award, the highest honor bestowed 
by the nation's homeless veteran 
assistance community.

President Obama is the first person to receive the 
award more than once. He was honored in 2009 
as the first president in U.S. history to make ending 
veteran homelessness a priority of his administration. 
Within months of that event, Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki announced the 
"Five-Year Plan to End Veteran Homelessness," an 
ambitious initiative to ensure veterans in crisis will 
never again be left to fend for themselves on the 
streets.

By June 2010, every member of the president's 
cabinet had signed onto "Opening Doors: Federal 
Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness," 
the nation's first comprehensive blueprint for 
multi-agency cooperation to end all homelessness 
in America. That historic document incorporated 
Secretary Shinseki's Five-Year Plan, which calls for 
increased access to housing, health care, income 
supports and homelessness prevention assistance 
for veterans and their families. 

"Since the announcement of the Five-Year Plan, 
President Obama has consistently demonstrated 
his commitment to ending veteran homelessness 
in his budget requests to Congress," said Patrick 
Ryan, Chairman of the NCHV Board of Directors. 
"His budget submission for FY 2013 brings 
the nation to within reach of that goal. Secretary 
Shinseki and Department of Housing and Urban 
Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan 
have dramatically improved the systems in place 
to help veterans in crisis; and the steady decrease 
in the number of homeless veterans since 2009 is a 
testament to the president's leadership."

According to the most recent Annual Homelessness 
Assessment Report to Congress (December 
2011), there were 67,495 homeless veterans on 
a single night in January 2011. That represents a 
decline of more than 56% since the president was 
sworn into office.

"By any account, a tremendous achievement," said 
John Driscoll, NCHV President and CEO. "And 
we're not yet at the midway point of the Five-
Year Plan. The president's FY 2013 budget request 
would bring the number of HUD-VA Supportive 
Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers to 60,000, 
the number needed to end chronic homelessness 
among veterans with serious mental illness and 
other disabilities."

It would also triple the amount of funding to help 
at-risk veteran families avoid homelessness, and 
provide rapid rehousing assistance for veterans 
working their way out of homelessness. For the 
second straight year, President Obama's budget 
request provides record funding for the VA Grant 
and Per Diem Program, which provides transitional 
housing, health services, employment preparation 
and job placement assistance to more than 
30,000 homeless veterans each year through local 
integrated service delivery systems.

"Under the leadership of President Obama, we are 
witnessing unprecedented national unity in the 
campaign to end and prevent veteran homelessness," 
Ryan said. "The progress we have seen from 
the federal agencies, the Congress, the community 
partners NCHV represents, and the American 
people in just the last three years give rise to the 
expectation that this campaign will succeed."

First Lady Michelle Obama is being honored for 
exemplary leadership in launching Joining Forces, 
a national campaign to ensure military and veteran 
families receive the support they have earned 
and need to fully enjoy the peace and prosperity 
they served to protect. Thousands of local service 
providers, businesses, faith partners, colleges and 
universities, military bases, veteran service organizations 
and volunteers have answered the call, 
providing affordable housing, employment services, 
job placement assistance and access to family 
health care in communities across the nation.

During the first year of Joining Forces, more than 
50,000 military spouses and veterans have entered 
employment. More than 1,600 companies have 
joined the campaign with a promise to hire another 
160,000. Fourteen states have passed legislation 
accepting licenses from other states for military 
spouses who are required to relocate, and another 
13 have proposed similar legislation.

The campaign will connect veterans with community 
health centers in areas that are under-served 
by the VA, particularly in rural areas. More than 
150 medical schools, 500 nursing schools and 80 
physician assistant programs have signed on to 
provide quality care to veteran families, with special 
training to care for those who have experienced 
traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic 
stress disorder (PTSD). This initiative will 
empower about three million health professionals 
to better serve veterans returning from the wars in 
Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The immediate impact of Joining Forces is remarkable," 
Driscoll said. "This really is where 
homelessness prevention begins. Local communities 
of care – involving businesses, the faith community, 
local government, community service 
providers, informed citizens, veterans and volunteers 
– can help veteran families before their hardships 
become too great to bear.

"In most cases, access to affordable housing, employment 
at a livable wage, and health services 
greatly reduce a family's risk of becoming homeless. 
Joining Forces is helping communities learn 
how to anticipate the need for and provide these 
critical supports."

For more information about the National Coalition 
for Homeless Veterans and our mission to 
end homelessness among veterans, visit our website 
at www.nchv.org. 

BUSINESS TODAY

The latest on Business News, Trends and Techniques


By La Quetta M. Shamblee, 

GETTING PAID FOR WHAT YOU KNOW, 

NOT WHAT YOU DO 

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Arcadia Association of Realtors announces 
that a sponsored bill that prevents banks 
from foreclosing after agreeing to a short sale 
scheduled for hearing next week

ARCADIA (April 26) – According to the Arcadia Association of Realtors® (A.A.R.) a bill that 
will allow homeowners who face losing their home yet have negotiated a short sale in good 
faith with their lender or servicer are not forced to go through foreclosure. This bill is sponsored 
by the California Association of Realtors® (C.A.R.) and is yet another move to protect 
struggling California homeowners.

Assembly Bill 1745 (Torres, D-Pomona) prevents lenders or servicers that have agreed to a 
“short sale” from foreclosing on a home. For any number of reasons (e.g., sickness, job loss, 
etc.), a homeowner may be unable to continue making his or her monthly mortgage payment. 
Rather than go through a lengthy and stressful foreclosure process, the homeowner 
will attempt to negotiate a “short” sale with the lender in which the lender agrees to accept 
less than the amount owed by the homeowner.

“This is a huge step in helping our homeowners salvage their home and keep them from 
being foreclosed upon after an agreement with their lending institution has already been 
made” says 2012 A.A.R. President, Ryan Asao.

Foreclosures and short sales are usually handled by two different departments within banks. 
Unfortunately, these two departments often do not communicate with each other, which can 
frequently result in a homeowner being foreclosed upon, despite having previously negotiated 
a short sale with the same bank.

AB 1745 will likely result in banks implementing a dual tracking system to prevent foreclosing 
upon homeowners with whom they have already negotiated a short sale. The measure is 
scheduled for hearing on April 30 by the Assembly Banking and Finance Committee.

Representing local Realtors® in the San Gabriel Valley for 88 years, the ARCADIA ASSOCIATION 
OF REALTORS® (www.TheAAR.com) is one of the oldest trade organizations in 
CA. The AAR is dedicated to the advancement of professionalism in real estate and is an 
advocate for private property rights. A.A.R. is headquartered in Arcadia.