Although a Phoenix homeless shelter for veterans had to close its women's section after only six months in operation, there's a big effort to raise the funds to get it reopened.
That includes an anonymous $10,000 donation, according to the people organizing the fundraising effort.
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Amid Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton's push over the past year to find homes for all homeless veterans in Phoenix, the Madison Street Veterans Association (MSVA) had to look for a new place to house the vets living in its women's section, just months after it opened, due to a lack of funding.
The fundraisers say a change in federal funding cut off a grant that was helping support the women's section.
New Times wrote about one of the fundraising efforts to keep the shelter open, which included nonprofit workers and even a state legislator voluntarily going homeless on the streets of Phoenix.
That legislator, Democratic Representative Mark Cardenas -- an Iraq War veteran -- took to living on the streets and also made a request for Governor Jan Brewer to direct some funding to keep the MANA (Marines, Army, Navy, Air Force) House open.
That project raised more than $28,000, although organizers expected they would need $50,000 to keep the MANA House open. However, this anonymous $10,000 donation may reignite the effort.
"This incredibly generous donation will go a long way towards reopening Madison Street Veterans Association's Women Veterans' Center," said Corey Harris, Vice President of the Arizona Veterans and Military Leadership Alliance, "It could not have come at a more critical time."
The website for the fundraising effort is blisteringatthemargins.com.
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