Politics & Government
Township, County Officials to Open Temporary Home for Veterans Monday Morning
The Veterans Memorial Cottages at the Lakeland Complex provides temporary housing for homeless and transitional veterans.
The Camden County Freeholder Board will officially open the Camden County Veterans Memorial Cottages at the County’s Lakeland Complex Monday morning.
The cottages will provide temporary housing to homeless and transitional veterans. Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli Jr., Freeholder Deputy Director Edward McDonnell, Sen. James Beach and Gloucester Township Mayor David Mayer will be on hand to open the cottages at 11:30 a.m.
The Lakeland Complex is located at 1 North Woodbury-Turnersville Road in the Blackwood section of the township.
“The three fully-equipped one bedroom cottages will provide veterans with a suitable place to live until they find a permanent home,” said McDonnell, liaison to the Camden County Office of Veterans Affairs. “Our veterans have given so much to this country, the very least we can do is give them a place to live. Far too many of our nation’s veterans are homeless.”
The Volunteers of America (VOA) will select appropriate veterans to temporarily reside in the cottages as part of its overall program to help homeless veterans transition back into the community. Camden County received a grant from NORWESCAP, Inc. to provide the transitional housing units.
According to The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, there were 58,000 homeless veterans in the nation in 2013. This represents a drop of almost 20,000 veterans from 2010 because of these kids of transitional housing programs.
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The site at Lakeland is close to the Camden County Veterans Affairs Office and Army Reserve Center so that the Veterans will have easy access to services. It is also a short walk to a NJ Transit bus stop.
“Our Camden County Veterans Affairs Office has been recognized for the outstanding work they do for our military men and women,” McDonnell said. “This is another way our Veterans Affairs staff can assist the Veterans that they serve.”Find out what's happening in Gloucester Townshipwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
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