VA Awards Record $1.1B in Grants to 680 Organizations to Fight Veteran Homelessness

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on Monday announced a record-high $1.17 billion in grants to continue to fight veteran homelessness.

Grants were awarded to 680 organizations across the nation to help veterans who are either homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The grants will be distributed in Fiscal Year 2027 and come after the agency touted housing 51,936 homeless veterans in FY25—a seven-year high.

In FY25, the VA housed 4,011 more veterans compared to the last year under the Biden administration, according to the agency. It was described as the VA’s best performance since it began tracking the number of individual veterans permanently housed, rather than the total number of permanent housing placements.

“Under President [Donald] Trump, VA is making historic progress getting our most vulnerable veterans off the streets and back on the path to self-sufficiency,” VA Secretary Doug Collins said in a statement. “These grants underscore our commitment to expanding critical services that prevent veteran homelessness, connecting those who have worn the uniform to permanent housing and providing the resources necessary for long‑term stability.”

How the Grants Will Be Distributed

Of the roughly $1.17 billion in funding, $855 million will be awarded to eligible grantees through the agency’s Supportive Services for Veteran Families program.

These one-year grants will begin on Oct. 1 and provide case management and supportive services to:

Prevent the imminent loss of a home.
Identify new, more suitable housing situations for veterans and families.
Rapidly re-house veterans and their families who are homeless and might remain homeless without assistance.

A veteran receives a pair of combat boots at the Chicago veterans stand down in June 2022. Thousands of surplus military boots were among the more than 300,000 items sent from Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services to the Department of Veterans Affairs this year to be given away to at-risk veterans during community events aimed at reducing homelessness. (DVIDS)

The other approximate $318 million will go towards eligible grantees through the agency’s Grant and Per Diem program.

These particular grants last for three years and also begin Oct. 1. They are designed to:

Fund transitional housing with supportive services or service centers.
Support transition-in-place housing, where veterans remain in their current housing unit while receiving services to help them move toward permanent, stable housing.
Provide special housing designed to better serve women veterans and those who are chronically mentally ill, frail, elderly, terminally ill, or are caring for minor dependents.

A full list of all the awardees can be found here.

The VA announcement comes as states have touted their own efforts to curb veteran homelessness.

New Jersey, for example, launched the Bringing Veterans Home initiative in November 2024 with a mission to dramatically decrease veteran homelessness statewide.

After injecting more than $30 million in state and federal funds were committed over a two-year period, the Garden State has helped permanently house more than 2,500 veterans.

The state of Indiana also reported an 18.7% decline in veteran homelessness in 2025.