Trump signs executive order to establish national center for homeless veterans in West LA

WEST LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- An organization seeking to develop the nation's largest supportive housing community for military veterans experiencing homelessness Friday praised President Donald J. Trump's executive order to establish a national center for homeless veterans in West Los Angeles.

The order directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish the National Center for Warrior Independence on the Veterans Affairs campus.

The order stated that homeless veterans in the Los Angeles area and beyond will be encouraged to use the center to seek and receive care, benefits and services.

"Funds previously spent on housing or other services for illegal aliens will be redirected to construct, establish, and maintain this center," the order states.

The center, Trump said, will promote self-sufficiency through housing, substance abuse treatment, and support for productive work for the veterans housed there. The order said the goal is to house up to 6,000 homeless veterans at the center by 2028.

The Los Angeles-based Veterans Collective said Friday it "enthusiastically applauds" Trump's order.

"We support any initiative that will provide safe and supportive housing for veterans who bravely served our country," the organization stated. "We agree with the White House: Our heroes deserve better."

The collective said it has a plan for a "thriving veteran community" on the West L.A. VA campus, with at least 1,200 new units of housing and critical support services by the end of Trump's term in office.

"That plan includes a Center for Moral and Spiritual Injury to be housed in the renovated Wadsworth Chapel on campus," according to the organization. "We look forward to welcoming President Trump to the campus soon. With more than 1,000 veterans already living on campus today, it would be a wonderful opportunity for them to meet with the commander-in-chief. He would also be the first president to see our progress."

A legal battle between veterans and the VA on whether the West L.A. campus will be cleared of non-veteran tenants and used to build housing for the homeless is ongoing in Los Angeles federal court.

The VA is currently appealing a judge's ruling last year that it must build 1,800 units of permanent housing for disabled and homeless veterans on the 388-acre grounds.