Hoeven Invites Secretary Carson to North Dakota to Review Innovation Efforts to Combat Homelessness

At a recent hearing of the Senate Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Committee, Senator John Hoeven invited Ben Carson, Secretary of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), to visit North Dakota and review two innovative efforts in the state to combat homelessness:

• The LaGrave on First project in Grand Forks.
• The Tribal HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program at the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation.

“We have some truly innovative projects underway in North Dakota to help our residents overcome homelessness, including in Grand Forks and on the Turtle Mountain reservation,” said Hoeven. “The LaGrave on First project goes beyond providing housing by addressing many of the challenges that are associated with being homeless, such as addiction, mental health and the need for job training. We also have a project that is focused on our Native American veterans. Homelessness is a widespread and persistent issue in Indian Country, and this has real impacts for our efforts to address veteran homelessness, because Native Americans serve in the Armed Forces at a higher rate than any other ethnic group. That’s why we established the HUD-VASH initiative and are working to make it permanent. Seeing these efforts firsthand would be beneficial for Secretary Carson as he works to prevent homelessness and ensure access to quality, affordable housing across our nation, and I appreciate that he has accepted my invitation.”