The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced two grant opportunities that it says will help veterans experiencing homelessness.
According to a recent VA release, within the coming year, it will award hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to organizations that help rapidly rehouse veterans and their families, prevent the imminent loss of a Veteran’s home, or identify new, more suitable housing situations for veterans and their families through Supportive Services for Veteran Families or SSVF Grants. The exact funding amount will be determined by VA’s budget.
More than $26 million will be awarded by VA within the coming year through its Legal Services for Homeless Veterans and Veterans At-Risk for Homelessness Grants to organizations that help homeless veterans with legal representation, assistance with court proceedings, defense in criminal cases related to homelessness and more.
“One veteran experiencing homelessness will always be one too many — and we will do everything in our power to ensure that Veterans get the safe, stable housing they deserve,” said VA Secretary Denis McDonough in the statement. “These new grants are a critical part of that effort, empowering VA and our partners to provide more housing and wraparound services to more homeless and at-risk veterans than ever before. Together, we will not rest until veteran homelessness is a thing of the past.”
The grant announcement came shortly after the Department of Housing and Urban Development released the results of the 2023 Point-in-Time Count, the annual effort to estimate the number of Americans — including veterans — experiencing homelessness. That data showed that on a single night in January 2023, there were 35,574 veterans who were experiencing homelessness, a 7.4% increase over 2022.
“There are many possible reasons for the increase in homelessness among veterans and all Americans in January 2023, including the cost of housing and the end of COVID-related supports,” the VA’s statement reads. “VA will investigate these barriers and do everything in its power to help veterans overcome them.”
The uptick mirrors the increase in homelessness among all Americans, which increased by 12% over 2022.
“Every American deserves a safe and affordable home. Like air, water, and food, housing is a basic human need required for the health of individuals, communities, and nations,” said U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Director Jeff Olivet.
According to VA, it surpassed its 2023 calendar year to house 38,000 veterans in October and the estimated number of veterans experiencing homelessness in the country has decreased by 52% since 2010 and by 4.5% since 2020.
For more information on the SSVF grant opportunity, visit here. For more information on the legal services for homeless veterans grant opportunity, visit here.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.