HAC Expands Efforts to Create Affordable Housing for Rural Veterans

WASHINGTON - Oct. 11, 2013 - PRLog -- Washington, DC, Oct. 11, 2013 – The Housing Assistance Council (HAC) will continue its Affordable Housing for Rural Veterans (AHRV) initiative for a second year thanks to a generous grant from The Home Depot Foundation (THDF). In July 2012, HAC launched the AHRV effort to increase the capacity of nonprofits in rural areas to provide affordable housing for veterans in their communities.

Rural America is home to a disproportionate number of veterans. For example, more than 40 percent of enrollees in the VA health system are rural residents. But, people from rural areas represent only 20 percent of the U.S. population.

“Veterans put themselves in danger to protect our country and our communities. HAC is proud to work with The Home Depot Foundation to help provide safe, affordable housing for soldiers when they return home,” said Moises Loza, HAC’s executive director.

HAC plans to use the funds from The Home Depot Foundation to provide training to housing developers and advocates in rural areas; increase the capacity of the local organizations to address veterans’ housing needs; and improve the quality and quantity of information about the housing conditions of veterans in rural areas.

“To make headway on the complicated housing issues that veterans face, especially in rural areas, we are glad to continue our work with the Housing Assistance Council,” said Kelly Caffarelli, president of The Home Depot Foundation. “Through cross-sector collaboration we will address the immediate critical housing needs of rural veterans, positively impacting not only individual families, but entire communities.”

For more about the Affordable Housing for Rural Veterans initiative, visit http://www.ruralhome.org.

About the Housing Assistance Council

HAC, founded in 1971, is a nonprofit corporation that supports the development of rural low-income housing nationwide. HAC provides technical housing services, loans from a revolving fund, housing program and policy assistance, research and demonstration projects, and training and information services. HAC is an equal opportunity lender.

About The Home Depot Foundation

The Home Depot Foundation is dedicated to improving the homes of U.S. military veterans through financial and volunteer resources to help nonprofit organizations. The Foundation has committed $80 million to these efforts over five years.

Through Team Depot, the company’s associate-led volunteer program, thousands of Home Depot associates volunteer their time and talents to positively transform neighborhoods and perform basic repairs and modifications to homes and facilities serving veterans with critical housing needs.

Since its formation in 2002, The Home Depot Foundation has granted more than $340 million to nonprofit organizations improving homes and lives in local communities. To learn more and see Team Depot in action, visit http://www.homedepotfoundation.org.