The Veterans Home in Bristol, R.I., opened in November 2017. (Peregrine photo)

Recently the Department of Veterans Affairs announced that it will use $685 million in funding from Congress to fund several State Veterans Home construction projects through the VA State Veterans Home Construction Grant Program.

The new funding can be used where needed for repairs, renovation or new construction and is part of an Omnibus Bill that represents the largest allocation to the more than 50-year-old State Veterans Home Construction Grant Program; funding for the program has averaged $94 million over the last five years. The State Veterans Home Construction Grant Program provides up to 65 percent of the cost to build and renovate facilities.

“This program has been operating with a backlog of applications for construction projects,” said VA Acting Secretary Robert Wilkie. “This new allocation will let us fund projects on our priority list, many of which have been waiting for years. We thank Congress for its commitment and support of Veterans across the country.”

Plans for the new funding include at least 52 projects including bed replacement projects in Massachusetts, Michigan and Wisconsin; life safety projects in Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas; new construction projects in Arizona, Hawaii, Illinois, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia; and general renovation projects in Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Wisconsin.

“As the largest appropriation in the more-than 50-year history of this program, it demonstrates just how strongly President Donald Trump cares for and is keeping his promises to our nation's Veterans,” Wilkie said.

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