VA awards $10 million in grants to fight Veteran homelessness in Kansas

This funding is part of a record-high $1.17 billion in grants awarded to 680 organizations across the country to fight Veteran homelessness. The grants follow VA’s success in housing 51,936 homeless Veterans in Fiscal Year 2025, the highest number in seven years.

Resource and supportive services grants will be distributed through the agency’s Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program 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.

Funds for transitional housing and intensive supportive services will be distributed through the agency’s Grant and Per Diem (GPD) program 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, or elderly.

View the full list of SSVF and GPD awardees here.

“We remain committed to ensuring Veterans have access to safe, stable housing and the supportive services they need to thrive,” said Michael Payne, Director of Robert J. Dole VA Medical Center. “These grants strengthen our partnerships with community organizations and help us reach Veterans where they are, providing resources that make a meaningful difference in their lives.”

Unhoused Veterans in the Wichita area will have more options available to help them access permanent housing. Mental Health Association (MHA) was awarded a new game changing Per Diem Only grant that will allow more Veterans, including those not eligible for VA healthcare, to access shelter with wraparound support. Instead of focusing primarily on helping them find housing quickly, this grant allows longer lengths of stay to fully address wider scopes of barriers that may interfere with success in housing.

VA’s Transition-in-Place (TIP) program will be expanded to include Passageways, a new grantee in Wichita. Veterans in TIP will move into a Passageways apartment and receive wraparound support to help them successfully transition into permanent housing.

Providers assist with life skills, employment readiness, income increases, and mental health connections during the transition period. Case managers and community organizations slowly phase out supportive services as the Veteran builds self-reliance and financial stability until being ready to sign a lease for their apartment and graduate the program without having to move.

Jeffrey Herndon, Public Affairs Officer

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