Gov. Greg Abbott Directs Millions To West Texas Veterans

Gov. Greg Abbott announced $1.7 million in state funding for six West Texas organizations through the Texas Veterans Commission's Grants Across Texas Tour, directing money toward housing, transportation, legal services, and financial assistance for roughly 1,800 veterans across the region.

The grants come from the Texas Veterans Commission's Fund for Veterans' Assistance program. Recipients include the City of El Paso, which received $140,000 for transportation services, and El Paso County, which picked up $285,000 for financial assistance and $400,000 for Veterans Treatment Court. Jeff Davis County received $200,000 for housing, and the Permian Basin Regional Planning Commission received $275,000, also for housing.

For veterans in and around West Texas, this money covers the kind of practical, unglamorous needs that often fall through the cracks: a ride to a VA appointment, a month's rent, a path through the court system. Veterans Treatment Court funding gives veterans facing legal trouble access to a specialized track that accounts for service-related factors rather than routing them straight into the general criminal system.

West Texas has a large veteran population spread across a lot of open country, which makes service delivery expensive and logistically difficult compared to urban areas.