WEST LOS ANGELES, CA – On Thursday, May 8th, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that would establish a national center for homeless veterans in West Los Angeles. ABC7 reported that the order directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish the National Center for Warrior Independence on the Veterans Affairs campus.
The order stated that homeless veterans in the Los Angeles area and beyond will be encouraged to use the center to seek and receive care, benefits, and services. FOX11 reported that the order also says the center would increase care and reduce wait times for Veterans Health Administration appointments by offering expanded hours, weekend appointments, and virtual healthcare.
The order states, “Funds previously spent on housing or other services for illegal immigrants will be redirected to construct, establish, and maintain this center.”
Trump said that the center will promote self-sufficiency through housing, substance abuse treatment, and support for productive work for the veterans housed there. The order said the goal is to house up to 6,000 homeless veterans at the center by 2028. The Los Angeles-based Veterans Collective said that it “enthusiastically applauds” Trump’s order.
The organization said, “We support any initiative that will provide safe and supportive housing for veterans who bravely served our country. We agree with the White House: Our heroes deserve better.” The organization said it has a plan for a “thriving veteran community” on the West Los Angeles campus, with at least 1,200 new units of housing and critical support services by the end of Trump’s term in office.
The organization said, “That plan includes a Center for Moral and Spiritual Injury to be housed in the renovated Wadsworth Chapel on campus. We look forward to welcoming President Trump to the campus soon. With more than 1,000 veterans already living on campus today, it would be a wonderful opportunity for them to meet with the commander-in-chief. He would also be the first president to see our progress.”
The White House said in a statement, “Los Angeles has approximately 3,000 homeless veterans, more than any other city in the country and accounting for about 10 percent of all homeless veterans in America. Many of these heroes live in squalor in Los Angeles’ infamous ‘skid row.’ The new National Center for Warrior Independence will help them and other veterans like them rebuild their lives.”
A legal battle between veterans and the VA on whether the West Los Angeles campus will be cleared of non-veteran tenants and used to build housing for the homeless is ongoing in Los Angeles federal court. The VA is currently appealing a judge’s ruling last year that said it must build 1,800 units of permanent housing for disabled and homeless veterans on the 388-acre grounds.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter also determined that the department had been illegally leasing portions of the campus to a private school, UCLA’s basketball team, an oil company, and other private interests. In the 125-page ruling, Carter wrote that the “cost of the VA’s inaction is veteran’s lives.”
