The Department of Veterans Affairs announced it has permanently housed 26,470 Veterans through July 2023, on pace to exceed its goal of housing 38,000 homeless Veterans in 2023. VA also announced more than $1 billion in grants to help homeless and at-risk Veterans through the Supportive Services for Veteran Families and Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem programs. These grants are a critical part of VA’s efforts to provide housing for Veterans in collaboration with the community.
Under the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program, VA is awarding 256 grants totaling approximately $799 million to community organizations that help rapidly rehouse Veterans and their families, prevent the imminent loss of Veterans’ homes, or identify more suitable housing situations for Veterans and their families. Through the Grant and Per Diem program, VA is awarding 454 grants totaling approximately $257 million to community organizations that provide Veterans with transitional housing and case management — including connecting Veterans to VA benefits, community-based services, and permanent housing.
Ending Veteran homelessness is a top priority for VA and the Biden-Harris Administration. In 2022 alone, VA housed more than 40,000 formerly homeless Veterans, prevented more than 17,700 Veterans and their families from falling into homelessness, and helped nearly 191,700 additional Veteran families who were experiencing financial difficulties retain their homes or avoid foreclosure. Thanks in part to these efforts, the number of Veterans experienc- ing homelessness has fallen by 11 percent since early 2020 and by more than 55 percent since 2010.
“We won’t rest until every Veteran has the safe, stable home that they deserve – because none of our nation’s heroes should be homeless in this country they fought to defend,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “These grants will allow VA, alongside our community partners, to help provide more housing and wraparound services to more homeless and at-risk Veterans than ever before.”
Earlier this year, the Biden-Harris Administration announced major new actions to prevent and reduce homelessness among Veterans, including launching supportive services to quickly rehouse Veterans experiencing homelessness; providing new legal services for Veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness; and funding programs to help Veterans experiencing or at risk of homelessness find jobs and connect to work.
VA’s efforts to end Veteran homelessness are built upon the evidence-based “Housing First” approach, which prioritizes getting a Veteran into housing and providing them with the wraparound support they need to stay housed, including health care, job training, legal and education assistance and more.
For more information about VA’s comprehensive efforts to end Veteran homelessness, visit VA.gov/homeless. To learn more about the Grant and Per Diem program or view the full list of grantees, visit the Grant and Per Diem website. To learn more about the Supportive Services for Veteran Families program or view the full list of grantees, visit the Supportive Services for Veteran Families website.
If you are a Veteran who is experiencing homelessness or at risk for homelessness, call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-4AID-VET (877-424-3838). Visit the VA Homeless Programs website to learn about housing initiatives and other programs for Veterans exiting homelessness.
Source: U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs
