Community Stories, Eden Updates
A Veteran and his Family’s New Start
November 10, 2021
Earl Hill says that his family’s journey has been a good one, now that they’ve landed at Valor Crossing and are all very happy living there.
Earl served in the military for eight years and during that time he lived in many places in the United States and was sent to Iraq twice. He and his family continued to move around frequently after he left the military and in recent years, they fell upon hard times and were unable to pay their bills. Reluctantly, they made the tough decision to stay in a shelter.
Today, Earl and his wife live at Valor Crossing with their children ages 13, 12 and 6. With a stable home, his wife was able to obtain a green card, a big lift off their shoulders. Earl has enrolled at Chabot College for welding technology, with a goal to explore a new profession as a welder.
“Now we have a roof over our heads, my wife and kids. The schooling is way better, and that’s one of the biggest things we were challenged with. They were struggling from moving around so much, especially after me being in the military. And that affected their growth academically. Now we have a stable place with nothing to worry about outside the home. It’s a great neighborhood, the teachers are awesome, and they love their schools which they didn’t have before. They are thriving now and slowly making gains.”
During COVID-19, Earl and his family appreciated the food programs provided by Eden Housing, including groceries dropped off at their doorstep.
“Overall, living at Valor Crossing has been a new start for our family. Being here gives us a hopeful feeling, we have a place to live with affordable rent and less stress. For a military person, that’s a big plus!”
Even before the COVID-19 crisis, over 37,000 veterans were homeless in the United States, and there is a shortage of service-enriched affordable housing centered on veterans’ needs.
The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (Housing Credit) is a key solution to help address the vast and growing need for affordable homes for our nation’s veterans. Since 1986, the Housing Credit has served as our country’s primary tool to finance the production and preservation of affordable housing, resulting in 3.5 million affordable homes, including Eden communities like Valor Crossing in Dublin.
Today we have the opportunity to help ensure all our veterans have access to the safe, stable, and affordable housing the Housing Credit provides by passing key provisions to expand and strengthen the program through the Build Back Better reconciliation bill. These proposals stem from broadly supported, bipartisan legislation.