As America grapples with extreme heat, VA reminds Veterans and communities that various resources are available to those experiencing homelessness.
The Community Resource and Referral Centers (CRRCs) provide community-based, multiagency services in a single location, and it’s offered in more than 30 cities nationwide. It streamlines access to housing, physical and mental health care, career development, and VA and non-VA benefits. Every VA medical center offers a range of housing solutions and wraparound supportive services for Veterans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
VA’s Grant and Per Diem (GPD), Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) and Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) are three transitional and permanent housing programs that offer immediate aid to Veterans facing housing crises during extreme weather.
“During the historic heat wave, Veterans experiencing homelessness are at increased risk of heat cramps, heat exhaustion, sunstroke, and other serious health problems, especially if they remain unsheltered,” said Monica Diaz, executive director, VHA Homeless Programs Office. “VA is closely monitoring the situation in the Pacific Northwest and other communities experiencing historic high temperatures, and we remain committed to making sure Veterans at risk of homeless receive the immediate help they need.”
If you are or know of a Veteran without stable housing during extreme heat or any other time, call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-4AID-VET (877-424-3838) for immediate assistance.
The Red Cross and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention each published helpful tips on staying safe during extreme heat.
- Heat Wave Safety | Heat Exhaustion Safety | Red Cross
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) About Extreme Heat | Natural Disasters and Severe Weather | CDC
- Warning Signs and Symptoms of Heat-Related Illness | Natural Disasters and Severe Weather | CDC
- Extreme Heat | Natural Disasters and Severe Weather | CDC
Learn more about VA’s mission to end Veteran homelessness and how you can help.
Topics in this story
More Stories
Summer Sports Clinic is a rehabilitative and educational sporting event for eligible Veterans with a range of disabilities.
Report examines the input of over 7,000 women Veterans: They are happier with VA health care than ever before.
Veterans and caregivers, you can help shape the future eligibility requirements for the VA Caregiver Support program.
Needs to apply to disabled and elderly veterans that have no AC in their homes because they didn’t need it before climate change. They should be able to be moved to some kind of relief when temps don’t drop below 100 degrees at night—as has been the case in San Francisco and in Portland—usually mild to cool in the summer but now experiencing deadly heatwaves with no AC; it just wasn’t needed before.
Great news!
I can’t wait to read all those leaflets and then fan them out in one hand and use them to fan cool myself down. It will be better than when I collapsed from heat stroke and the guys of my team told me that I collapsed, was not sweating, dry red clammy skin and unconscious, and because clean drinking water was a very expensive commodity in the bush they elected to urinate on me to cool me down as the urine changed states from liquid to vapor, it carried off heat energy and thus dropping my body temperature. Amazing what one saying can save your, or in my case, my life “piss on him”, and all this while receiving mortar, rocket and green tracers overhead.
FJB Out!
This is a good news. God bless our veterians