Feeding Pets of the Homeless® collaborates with HUD-VASH to support homeless veterans
National nonprofit to provide emergency care and supplies to companion animals
Carson City, Nev. – Feeding Pets of the Homeless® teams up with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) to provide the pets of verified veterans in the program emergency veterinary care.
According to Veteran’s Hope House, 11% of the homeless adult population are veterans and 50% have serious mental illness.
“We need to work to better help those who have served our country and that includes their animal companions who provide them with much needed comfort and security” Genevieve Frederick, founder and president of Feeding Pets of the Homeless, said. “I hold this close to my heart as my husband, two brothers and father are all veterans, so I am honored for our organization to work with HUD-VASH to provide resources to these veterans who need our help.”
Of the animals Feeding Pets of the Homeless have given emergency care to, 9% of the pets in 2021 belong to homeless veterans, this number is up from 5%, according to Frederick.
The HUD-VASH program combines the HUD housing vouchers with the supportive services provided by the VA to help Veterans who are homeless, and their families find and sustain permanent housing. The program targets the chronically homeless veterans who are most vulnerable and often have severe mental or physical health problems and limited access to other social supports.
“We understand the unconditional love, comfort and security pets can bring a homeless person and we do our best to keep these pets and their human companions together,” Frederick said. “We want to help these veterans maintain this bond with their animal companions as long as possible.”
Founded in 2008, Feeding Pets of the Homeless provides free emergency veterinary care, wellness clinics, pet food and supplies to companion animals of the homeless population across the nation. The organization also supplies sleeping crates for animals to homeless shelters.
For information on how to access resources for pets of the homeless, call Feeding Pets of the Homeless at (775) 841-7463 or visit petsofthehomeless.org.
