UTRGV student veterans and military families can benefit from a $300,000 grant that was awarded to the Warriors Assistance Program (WAP) at Tropical Texas Behavioral Health.
Director of UTRGV Edinburg’s Military and Veterans Success Center Elda Arriaga said she is excited about the opportunities the grant will provide for student veterans and their families.
“We were very excited because when we were learning about the development of the grant and what it was going to entail and who it was going to support, we learned it was going to support military-affiliated students,” Arriaga said. “A lot of grants don’t support family members. So, this is a very important grant for our students.”
He said the center targeted 2,300 students that receive federal or state veteran benefits to make them aware of the grant.
The money, which was awarded in July, is funded by the Texas Veterans Commission’s General Assistance Grant.
Program supervisor for the WAP at Tropical Texas Jorge Morales, says each household can be awarded up to $1,500 for rent, mortgages, and utilities and up to $1,600 for childcare assistance.
Morales said the help comes as the coronavirus pandemic and Hurricane Hanna have left many financially hurt.
“We’ve seen so many requests for assistance with housing, mortgage assistance, rental assistance, and even child care assistance because with the pandemic both veterans and individuals lost jobs,” he said. “With the natural disaster, homes were ruined.”
According to Morales, all applicants will be reviewed on a case-by-case, first-come, first-serve basis and a deadline is still being evaluated.
For more information, email veteranservices@utrgv.edu.
For Vaquero News, I’m Justin Elizalde.
