Anonymous Donor Gives $10,000 in Effort to Reopen Shelter for Homeless Female Vets

Although a Phoenix homeless shelter for veterans had to close its women’s section after only six months in operation, there’s a big effort to raise the funds to get it reopened.

That includes an anonymous $10,000 donation, according to the people organizing the fundraising effort.

See also:
–Mayor Stanton Pledges Every Homeless Vet Will Be Housed by Christmas

Amid Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton’s push over the past year to find homes for all homeless veterans in Phoenix, the Madison Street Veterans Association (MSVA) had to look for a new place to house the vets living in its women’s section, just months after it opened, due to a lack of funding.

The fundraisers say a change in federal funding cut off a grant that was helping support the women’s section.

New Times wrote about one of the fundraising efforts to keep the shelter open, which included nonprofit workers and even a state legislator voluntarily going homeless on the streets of Phoenix.

That legislator, Democratic Representative Mark Cardenas — an Iraq War veteran — took to living on the streets and also made a request for Governor Jan Brewer to direct some funding to keep the MANA (Marines, Army, Navy, Air Force) House open.

That project raised more than $28,000, although organizers expected they would need $50,000 to keep the MANA House open. However, this anonymous $10,000 donation may reignite the effort.

“This incredibly generous donation will go a long way towards reopening Madison Street Veterans Association’s Women Veterans’ Center,” said Corey Harris, Vice President of the Arizona Veterans and Military Leadership Alliance, “It could not have come at a more critical time.”

The website for the fundraising effort is blisteringatthemargins.com.

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Follow Matthew Hendley on Twitter at @MatthewHendley.