Expedite plan for homeless vets
An artist's rendering of housing proposed for veterans in North Amityville Credit: Photo by www.howarddigital.com
The accurate number of homeless veterans on Long Island is elusive, but anything north of zero is too much. So a step that will get them out of the cold is welcome, including a plan by a respected nonprofit agency for 61 apartments in North Amityville to house homeless vets.
Before the Medford-based agency, Concern for Independent Living, can start building at a closed Army Reserve base, a lot has to happen. That includes formal transfer of land to the Town of Babylon, approvals by the town, and closing the deal on more than $20 million in available federal, state and county funds.
For 40 years, Concern has provided housing for persons with disabilities, including homeless families with a member suffering from a psychiatric disability. Among its 200 sites in Suffolk County are facilities with 50 units each in East Patchogue, Sayville and Riverhead. So it has the requisite experience.
The former Army site will also provide a building for the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless and other agencies serving that population. Babylon is doing the right thing by dedicating to this crucial need nine of the 16 acres of federal land it is acquiring at this site. All homelessness is tragic, but it's particularly poignant for those who have survived combat, only to return home and become homeless.
These apartments may directly help only a few dozen homeless veterans, but for that small group, this could be just the start they need -- and deserve.
