By Howard Wilkinson
The Cincinnati Enquirer

WOODLAWN - Homeless veterans in the Cincinnati area, including some who served as recently as in the war in Iraq, will get help finding jobs through nearly $600,000 in federal grants awarded to Ohio Valley Goodwill Industries.

U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Cincinnati, toured Goodwill's Woodlawn facility Thursday and told Goodwill officials their homeless veterans program would receive $594,440 from the U.S. Department of Labor under the federal government's Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program

"This is a huge boost for a program that has been proven to be successful,'' said Charles Blythe, Goodwill's special projects manager.

Since the program began 11 years ago, more than 2,000 homeless veterans have been given temporary shelter in Goodwill's dormitory-style housing, and 1,747 have been placed in jobs, Blythe said.

The new federal grant money, Blythe said, will allow Goodwill to serve another 355 homeless veterans in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, giving them a place to live while they receive job training and seek jobs.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says that one of every three homeless men in the U.S. is a veteran.

Vietnam veterans make up the largest portion of homeless veterans, but Blythe said Goodwill's program is currently working with three recently returned veterans of the war in Iraq.

"There are going to be more veterans as men and women come home from Iraq who are going to fall on hard times, for whatever reason, Blythe said.

"What this does, really, is boost the economy,'' said Blythe. "You take homeless people and turn them into wage earners who go out and buy things for themselves and pay taxes. Everybody benefits."

Ohio Valley Goodwill Industries, located on Springfield Pike in Woodlawn, has 24 beds for homeless veterans. Blythe said they are usually full.

Chabot, who pushed for the Goodwill program to be included in the federal program, said society has "an obligation to help those who have worn the uniform of their country and fallen on hard times."

"It's especially important at a time like this when we have men and women in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan,'' Chabot said.

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E-mail hwilkinson@enquirer.com