New, affordable veterans housing underway on upper King Street (Charleston Post and Courier, NC)

Charleston Post and Courier
(7/21/2014 3:56 PM, Diane Knich)

A group dedicated to preserving the dignity of veterans by helping to build affordable housing for them broke ground on a four-unit building on upper King Street Monday.

When the building opens six months from now, it will put a small dent in the affordable housing crisis for men and women who have served in the nation’s military. Geona Shaw Johnson, director of the city’s Housing and Community Development Department, said currently there are 853 veterans in the city of Charleston who are homeless.

The group P.A.S.T.O.R.S., Inc., a community development organization, will build the $400,000, four-unit building at 711 King, on land owned by the adjacent Wallingford Presbyterian Church.

According to P.A.S.T.O.R.S website, Wallingford will provide permanent housing to the veterans in the new building through the HUD-VASH Program, in which veterans will be provided Section 8 assistance for their housing.