VA to build veterans home in Kinston

The Department of Veterans Affairs on Tuesday approved $24.2 million in economic stimulus grants to build veterans homes in Kinston and Swannanoa.

"Our federal-state partnership will provide comfortable and safe housing for North Carolina’s veterans in a caring community,” Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki said in a statement.

The grants will cover 65 percent of the total construction costs for both 100-bed facilities.

Last year, the VA spent nearly $3.4 billion on behalf of North Carolina’s 770,000 veterans, including major medical centers in Asheville, Durham, Fayetteville and Salisbury, 11 outpatient clinics, five veterans centers and four national cemeteries.