Blagojevich slashes funding at Manteno Veteran's shelter

Web exclusive: Governor slashes funding at Manteno Veteran's shelter

By Andrea Zelinski
217-524-5797
Sng2@springnet1.com

SPRINGFIELD – Faced with $1.4 billion in cuts to the proposed state budget this week, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his veto pen skipped over the La Salle Veterans Home this week, making room to open an 80-bed expansion.

Instead, his pen landed on the Prince Home at Manteno which could see a 17 percent drop from the proposed funding level this year.

“We’ll have to work with it,” said Program Director Deanna Mackey. “I’m glad that it’s only $200,000 and not more.”

The veteran’s homeless shelter on the Manteno Veterans Home campus opened its doors early this year, offering shelter, medical assistance and job training for as many as 15 veterans at a time.

The governor vetoed $200,000 from its budget which totals $1.2 million from state and federal sources. Right now the center is home to six veterans, though it’s served 11 vets so far this year.

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