Housing Assistance For Veterans
Living here—this is a blessing," says Emanuel Yates, one of several formerly homeless Veterans featured in this video, which discusses a VA program that is helping create permanent housing.
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH)
This collaborative program between HUD and VA combines HUD housing vouchers with VA supportive services to help Veterans who are homeless and their families find and sustain permanent housing. As of Sept. 30, 2015, HUD had allocated more than 78,000 vouchers to help house Veterans across the country.
How It Works
Through public housing authorities, HUD provides rental assistance vouchers for privately owned housing to Veterans who are eligible for VA health care services and are experiencing homelessness. VA case managers may connect these Veterans with support services such as health care, mental health treatment and substance use counseling to help them in their recovery process and with maintaining housing in the community. Among VA homeless continuum of care programs, HUD-VASH enrolls the largest number and largest percentage of Veterans who have experienced long-term or repeated homelessness.
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Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem (GPD) Program
State, local and tribal governments and nonprofits receive capital grants and per diem payments to develop and operate transitional housing—including short-stay bridge housing—and/or service centers for Veterans who are homeless.
How It Works
VA funds an estimated 600 agencies that provide over 14,500 beds for eligible Veterans. Grantees work closely with an assigned liaison from the local VAMC. The VA GPD liaison monitors the services the grantees offer to Veterans and provides direct assistance to them. Grantees also collaborate with community-based organizations to connect Veterans with employment, housing and additional social services to promote housing stability. The maximum stay in this housing is up to 24 months, with the goal of moving Veterans into permanent housing.
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Enhanced-Use Lease (EUL) Program
Too many Veterans are without safe, affordable housing. At the same time, some VA campuses have real estate that is underused. That’s where VA’s Enhanced-Use Lease program may come in.
How It Works
EUL is a VA portfolio management tool that allows certain land and buildings to be leased to eligible private entities for approved supportive housing and related projects for homeless and at-risk Veterans. In addition to supportive housing, VA’s EUL partners often provide Veterans with job training, financial management, haircuts, computer and laundry facilities, fitness centers and other services. Veterans and their families are prioritized for EUL developments, which are also convenient to VA health care facilities.
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Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF)
For very low-income Veterans, SSVF provides case management and supportive services to prevent the imminent loss of a Veteran’s home or identify a new, more suitable housing situation for the individual and his or her family; or to rapidly re-house Veterans and their families who are homeless and might remain homeless without this assistance.
How It Works
Through referrals and direct outreach, nonprofit agencies and community cooperatives use SSVF funding to quickly house Veterans and their families who are homeless and keep others from slipping into homelessness by providing time-limited supportive services that promote housing stability. Case management includes help securing VA and other benefits such as educational aid and financial planning.
