Another 5,200 homeless veterans will receive housing and support from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

The agencies announced nearly $38 million in awards under the HUD-VA Supportive Housing (VASH) program, which combines rental assistance from HUD and case management and clinical services provided by VA.

Since 2008, more than 79,000 VASH vouchers have been awarded and over 111,000 homeless veterans have been served through the program.

“That any veteran has to spend one night without a home is a disgrace, and it’s not enough for our nation to talk about honoring our veterans. We’ve actually got to do something about it,” said Julián Castro, HUD secretary, during a call to announce the funding. “We have to do the work of serving them as well as they’ve served us. That means ensuring every veteran has a roof over his or her head.”

Robert A. McDonald, VA secretary, added that Housing First works.

“It’s the right strategy,” he said, stressing that funding from HUD and services from VA leads to fewer homeless veterans.

Housing First is an approach that calls for providing permanent housing as soon as possible. Once a homeless individual has stable housing, he or she can then better address other issues and receive services.

For more information and a link to the latest awards, read the announcement.