NOVA Receives Grant to Serve Homeless Veterans
Sunnyvale, Calif. – NOVA (North Valley Job Training Consortium) was notified Wednesday June 25) that it has been awarded a Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP) grant from the U. S. Department of Labor in the amount of $300,000. This grant is one of 16 new grants awarded nationwide, and one of three in California.
The grant proposal was submitted in partnership with the Next Step Center of Menlo Park. Located on the grounds of the Veterans Affairs health care facility in Menlo Park, Next Step has successfully operated HVRP projects in the past and currently works with NOVA to offer services through a Workforce Investment Act grant targeted to veterans. The new grant will provide comprehensive employment-related services to 280 homeless veterans in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. Services will include comprehensive assessment, housing assistance, job skills training, and intensive case management, with the goal of full-time, self-sufficient employment.
“We are pleased to have been awarded this grant,” said NOVA director Mike Curran. “Veterans’ services have become an integral part of NOVA’s employment and training services, and the HVRP is a program that has been highly respected and needed in the community.”
The grant will operate from July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2009.
NOVA (North Valley Job Training Consortium) is a nonprofit, federally funded organization dedicated to providing innovative, high-quality, customer-focused workforce development services. NOVA works closely with local businesses, educators and job seekers to ensure that its programs provide opportunities that build the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to address the workforce needs of Silicon Valley. For more information about NOVA, visit www.novaworks.org.
The Next Step Center (NSC) is a non-profit organization located on the VA grounds in Menlo Park and has provided comprehensive employment services to veterans since 1988. Using a "whole person" model approach to vocational rehabilitation, coupled with intensive case management, NSC has served thousands of veterans since its inception and placed them in a wide variety of positions throughout San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. NSC provides area employers with qualified, pre-screened candidates for part-time, full-time, permanent and temporary employment. For more information, visit www.nextstepjobs.org.