VA Central Iowa Healthcare System encourages Des Moines Metro Area landlords to advocate for homeless Veterans

In response to the ongoing affordable housing crisis, the VA Central Iowa Healthcare System (VACIHS) is encouraging local landlords to partner with its homeless Veterans program, which provides rental subsidies and landlord support for approximately 165 Veterans and their families in the Des Moines area.

The program is currently facing challenges due to increases in rent and growth in inflation rates and emboldens landlords to consider opening their homes up to a Veteran family.

“It’s important that communities nationwide work together to keep our Veterans in safe and stable homes,” said Jennifer Miner, VACIHS’s Homeless Programs Supervisor. “This program has been critical in the effort to end Veteran homelessness. Additional partnerships with landlords will increase Veterans’ access to safe, affordable permanent housing while VA provides services to support stability.

There are benefits of renting to homeless Veterans:

• VA provides services to Veterans placed in permanent housing to support their housing stability. Reliable income from subsidies where a portion of the rent is automatically paid on time to landlords by a public housing authority or a VA grantee.
• Support from VA case management to connect landlords and Veterans with help they may need.
• Making a positive impact in changing a Veteran's life.

Since 2019, VACIHS has successfully housed over 211 Veterans in the community through VA’s permanent housing programs.

To support, revitalize and streamline VA’s commitment to end Veteran homelessness and ensure at-risk Veterans are protected from this housing crisis, VA has established a nationwide goal to house 38,000 homeless Veterans during calendar year 2022.

Des Moines area property owners interested in helping Veterans can reach out to Jennifer.Miner@va.gov for more information. 

VA Central Iowa Healthcare System provides health care services to Veterans in central Iowa. The Des Moines VA Medical Center offers a full range of primary, emergency, specialty, and long-term care with six outpatient clinics operated in South Des Moines, Carroll, Fort Dodge, Knoxville, Marshalltown, and Mason City. Additionally, the VA Community Resource & Referral Center (CRRC), located in downtown Des Moines, provides Veterans who are homeless and at-risk of homelessness with one-stop access to community-based, multiagency services to promote permanent housing, health and mental health care, career development and access to VA and non-VA benefits.  For more information, please call the CRRC at (515) 699-5637.   

Dan Kuester, Public Affairs Officer

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