Find Help Before Or After Losing Your Housing

Start With Your Immediate Housing Situation

If you are a Veteran without stable housing or think you may lose it soon, call VA's National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-424-3838, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. VA also offers a confidential online chat through its homeless call-center page. Family members and people helping a Veteran can contact the service too.

Explain where you are staying tonight, whether you can safely remain there, and any date when you must leave. Mention immediate access needs and whether children or other household members need accommodation. Ask what help is available now and which local team will handle follow-up. In immediate danger, call 911.

Sources: National Call Center For Homeless Veterans

Ask About Prevention And Rapid Rehousing

Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) works through funded community providers to help eligible low-income Veteran households facing homelessness or an imminent housing crisis. Services can include case management, help connecting with benefits, and assistance tailored to a housing-stability plan. Ask the provider serving your area to assess your circumstances.

The distinction between homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing matters. Staying temporarily with someone in permanent housing does not automatically meet the program's definition of literal homelessness, but prevention assistance may be relevant. A rent balance alone does not establish eligibility for every service. Describe the actual risk and timeline, and ask what evidence the provider needs.

Sources: Supportive Services For Veteran Families · SSVF Supportive Services

Understand HUD-VASH And Ongoing Support

HUD-VASH combines a HUD housing voucher with VA case management and supportive services. It is designed for Veterans experiencing homelessness who need ongoing support to obtain and maintain housing. The program may connect housing help with health care, treatment, employment resources, or other services suited to the person's needs.

A referral is the beginning of an assessment, not a reserved apartment. An approved voucher must be used for housing that meets program requirements, with a participating landlord and within local guidelines. Ask who coordinates the assessment, what happens during the housing search, and what temporary options are available while that process continues.

Sources: HUD-VASH Housing And Case Management

Keep A Small Housing Action File

Keep information that helps a local worker understand the problem, but make the first contact even if your records are incomplete. Ask which documents are required and how to provide them securely. This suggested checklist is a conversation aid, not a national eligibility formula.

• Write down your current location and a safe way for staff to contact you.
• Keep lease, rent, eviction, or termination notices that explain the situation.
• Note household members, accessibility needs, and urgent safety concerns.
• List income and benefits information if the provider requests it for screening.
• Record the agency, worker, next appointment, and documents still needed.
• Ask what to do if you cannot reach the assigned contact or your situation worsens.

Sources: National Call Center For Homeless Veterans · SSVF Supportive Services

Use The Mortgage Route If You Own A Home

For missed mortgage payments, contact the mortgage servicer promptly and ask about available loss-mitigation options. VA also offers loan counseling to Veterans and qualifying surviving spouses, including counseling when the mortgage is not VA-guaranteed. VA-backed loans have additional VA loan-technician support.

Keep mortgage statements and any foreclosure notices together. Ask the servicer what deadlines remain, what documents it needs, and how to obtain the terms of any proposed arrangement in writing. A request for counseling does not itself change a payment obligation or establish that foreclosure has stopped. Resolve those questions with the servicer and appropriate local assistance.

Sources: VA Help To Avoid Foreclosure

Know What A Referral Can And Cannot Promise

Programs assess eligibility and needs separately. Help may involve benefits access, mediation, legal-service referrals, a housing search, or temporary financial assistance when authorized. It does not guarantee a hotel room, a particular apartment, payment of every debt, or immediate placement.

Before ending a conversation, repeat the next step and who is responsible for it. If one program cannot assist, ask about another local referral and keep that contact information. VA's provider-grant funding announcements concern organizations applying for grants; a closed funding announcement is not proof that individual Veterans can no longer ask a local provider for help.

Sources: Supportive Services For Veteran Families · SSVF Supportive Services · HUD-VASH Housing And Case Management

Common Questions