Christine Barrie grew up listening to the story of how her family came to donate land for the purpose of developing permanent supportive housing for veterans.
With the rise of property values in the area, the Department of Veterans Affairs started giving control of the land piecemeal to private companies. Nearly 90 years later, portions of the property have been leased to a number of private businesses, including a rental car company.
Now the American Civil Liberties Union is alleging misuse of the land at the VA facility in West L.A. On Wednesday, it announced that it has filed suit against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on behalf of four homeless veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, among a host of other disabilities.
“The VA is legally obligated to provide medical and psychiatric services to every veteran,” said Mark Rosenbaum, the ACLU's chief counsel. “The property was donated to be used as permanent supportive housing for the veterans. The 1888 deed gave away this property but only under the specific condition that it be utilized as a permanent home. But that has not happened.”
No comments:
Post a Comment