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FORT CAVAZOS, Texas -- Two programs are working together to provide military families more options to secure affordable housing.
The Military Value Program and the Rental Partnership Program are slightly different, but both are managed by the Housing Services Office and geared towards helping service members avoid some of the obstacles they face when securing housing.
Col. Chad R. Foster, U.S. Army Garrison-Fort Cavazos commander, explained that the lack of suitable housing for service members is an issue the installation couldn’t address alone.
“Complex problems require community solutions,” Foster said. “The local housing crunch was truly a complex issue that we couldn’t solve on our own. I asked for help and the Central Texas community delivered for the Soldiers and families.”
The MVP is a contractual agreement between the Garrison commander and hotels and apartment complexes that offer temporary lodging for military families.
Foster explained that he sought the assistance of the community to support the MVP.
“I remember going to (property owners) personally and asking for help, (saying) ‘I need us to identify as a community and set aside as many properties as we can,’” he expressed to the owners, “‘whether they be apartments or homes, available for military families to rent on a weekly or monthly basis as they wait for permanent housing to open up.’”
Foster explained that he requested costs to be comparable to service members’ basic allowance for housing rates and although the owners couldn’t feasibly match the BAH price, they offered fully furnished properties and flexibility with the lease.
“So, it’s a little bit above BAH,” he said. “But when you add in those other cost savings and convenience savings and the fact that (Soldiers) can rent weekly or monthly as opposed to having to go into maybe a longer lease with something that’s less desirable, this is a better option, and we wouldn’t be able to do that without the local community. They really came through for us.”
The RPP is an Army supported contractual agreement between the Garrison commander and apartment complexes to provide long term housing for service members.
The program is designed to reduce service members’ out-of-pocket costs, help them get into affordable housing despite bad credit and help restore their credit in the process and help service members with no credit establish housing and build credit history.
RPP provides an opportunity to limit fees such as security deposits and administrative costs and take advantage of additional concessions on the monthly rent.
Marvin Brown, chief of the Housing Services Office, explained that many new Soldiers have never lived on their own, making it difficult to make the transition.
“There are challenges trying to get into some of these places due to no credit or bad credit and the RPP program alleviates that problem,” he said. “It removes the risk of rent not being paid by a young Soldier that doesn’t have that sense of responsibility yet.”
Brown explained that the program sets up an automatic allotment from the service member’s account and deposits the funds with the bank, which ensures the property manager gets their money.
“So, it’s almost like the Army’s co-signing that lease with the service member,” Brown said. “It’s a good partnership program to have and I think it’s vital for our junior service members that have not established themselves to sign up for the program.”
Though the MVP and RPP are voluntary, service members are encouraged to participate. The HSO anticipates that the programs will become an intricate part of housing, due to the inherent win-win possibilities offered for service members and the community.
“The community in Central Texas delivered for the Soldiers and families on Fort Hood (not Fort Cavazos),” Foster said. “Without them we wouldn’t have these programs. They made it happen. When we needed the help, they delivered.”
| Date Taken: | 05.11.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 09.01.2023 11:27 |
| Story ID: | 447859 |
| Location: | FORT CAVAZOS, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 160 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Programs tackle housing shortage for military families, by Janecze Wright, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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