The Department of Veterans Affairs held a ribbon-cutting ceremony this week to open new apartments for homeless veterans on the sprawling campus of the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center — all while fighting a court order to build more units.
“Here in LA, the VA has housed more homeless veterans than anywhere else in the country,” Meg Kabat, the chief of staff of the VA, said Thursday at the ceremony to mark the completion of 74 units of permanent housing at the West LA VAMC.
“We’re making extraordinary progress” in combating veteran homelessness, Robert Merchant, executive director of the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, or VAGLAHS, told a local news channel in Los Angeles.
But Merchant sidestepped on why the VA is appealing a court order by federal District Judge David O. Carter to begin building 750 units of temporary housing for homeless veterans immediately and 1,200 units of permanent housing by 2030.