VA houses largest number of homeless Veterans in seven years VA Central Iowa Health Care System helped house 196 Veterans locally

That number is 4,011 more Veterans than VA housed last year. 

The nationwide numbers include 196 permanently housed by the VA Central Iowa Health Care System.

This is VA’s best national performance since it began tracking the number of individual Veterans permanently housed instead of the total number of permanent housing placements, ensuring a more accurate count of the number of Veterans helped.

VA began using this new methodology in 2022, and when applied retroactively to 2019, the numbers look like this:

FY -                 Permanent Housing Placements  -        Unique Veterans Housed 

FY 2025 -                    53,839 -                                                          51,936

FY 2024 -                    51,124 -                                                          47,925

FY 2023 -                    48,059 -                                                          46,051

FY 2022 -                    41,208 -                                                          39,868

FY 2021 -                    39,637 -                                                          38,401

FY 2020 -                    45,397 -                                                          44,048

FY 2019 -                    49,462 -                                                          48,133

In May 2025, VA took bold action to reduce Veteran homelessness by launching its Getting Veterans Off the Street initiative, in which every VA health care system across the country hosted dedicated outreach surge events to locate unsheltered Veterans and offer them immediate access to housing programs, health care, behavioral health services, and VA benefits. Getting Veterans Off the Street helped move 25,065 unsheltered Veterans to interim (emergency and transition) or permanent housing.

“We’ve made significant strides in connecting unhoused Veterans with the resources they need, but our work continues,” said Lisa Curnes, VA Central Iowa Medical Center Director. “Each successful housing placement reflects our commitment to ensuring that every Veteran has access to secure housing and the support to thrive.” 

These efforts complement President Trump’s May executive order to establish a National Center for Warrior Independence for Homeless Veterans on the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center campus. The National Center for Warrior Independence for Homeless Veterans aims to provide housing and support for up to 6,000 homeless Veterans from across the nation by 2028.

Every day, VA staff and community partners across the country help Veterans find permanent housing – such as apartments or houses to rent or own – often with subsidies to help make the housing more affordable. In some cases, VA teams and partners help Veterans end their homelessness by reuniting them with family and friends.

Visit VA.gov/homeless to learn about housing initiatives and other programs supporting homeless Veterans.


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If you are a Veteran who is experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-4AID-VET ) or visit VA.gov/homeless

Samantha Hircock, Visual Information Specialist

Phone: