Homeless Veterans in Salt Lake City now have a better chance to get into a warm place to live just as winter weather approaches. The VA Salt Lake City Health Care System along the Housing Authority of Salt Lake City dedicated the new 72 room Valor House today. The Director of the Utah Division of Housing and Community Development, Gordon Walker, says the state is very close to serving every veteran’s needs for transitional and permanent housing and on track to end homelessness in Utah with the 10-year plan. US Navy Veteran Dawn Hemphill is a former homeless drug addict. She says the VA’s Health Care System works because it’s so broad scoped.
"When I got here I felt like, literally the system, the VA healthcare system, they wrapped their arms around me and they wrapped their arms tight," she says.
Hemphill is now working for the VA to help other veterans get off the streets and get the assistance they need. Valor House was built on donated land within walking distance of the VA Medical Center with funding from various federal and state agencies as well private entities including Zion’s Bank.
