Homeless Veterans The Focus Of Celebrity Broadcast

Cumulus Media Radio Properties Partner in Nationwide Campaign to Secure Housing for Vets

May 1, TOLEDO, OH – Over a dozen celebrities have teamed up with Ohio-based Veterans Matter to generate awareness about the issue of homeless veterans and to help raise funds that will decrease the number of unhoused vets on our streets. The campaign is supported by media giant Cumulus Media which is airing Veterans Matter celebrity-voiced public service announcements in 110 U.S. markets May 1 – 31, 2014.

The thirty-second announcements, encouraging listeners to pledge support by texting “VETS” to 41444, are voiced by musicians Kid Rock, Kix Brooks, John Fogerty, John Mellencamp, Darius Rucker, Darryl Worley, Stevie Nicks, ZZ Top’s Dusty Hill, Emerson Drive, Jennifer Nettles, Natalie Stovall and The Drive as well as author Mitch Albom.

“It’s really important to me that we take care of our service men and women,” says Kix Brooks. “There are so many precautions taken to be sure they’re safe while they’re serving, but we also need to keep in mind what happens when they get home.”

Veterans Matter, a national program of 1Matters, a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit with roots back to 1990, was started by founder Ken Leslie in 2012, after learning that the biggest obstacle facing some 60,000 homeless veterans eligible for housing assistance was the lack of a rental deposit, which is not covered by the HUD-VASH voucher assistance program.

“When you are working on the streets you see veterans beaten, robbed, even killed, yet if that happened behind enemy lines Americans would be outraged,” explains Leslie. “Veterans Matters is just some regular Americans taking care of our own one at a time, just because we should, and because we can, everyone can.”

To date, Veterans Matter has housed 235 veterans, and veteran families, in six states. Partnering with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Veteran Affairs (VA), Veterans Matter provides rental deposits for homeless veterans who qualify for voucher-assisted living but are unable fund the initial housing costs. With the outpouring of celebrity support and the backing of Cumulus Media, Veterans Matter has high hopes of being able to help house 1,000 more veterans in 2014. 100% of funds raised go toward the program.

“We must help get these warriors back into housing and recapture their lives,” says Dusty Hill of ZZ Top. “We must take care of our own. Veterans Matter.”

Visit VeteransMatter.org and Facebook.com/VeteransMatter for more information and to join the campaign.