Skip to Content

VA San Diego Reaches Veteran Housing Milestone

VA San Diego’s Supportive Housing Team along with many community partners who came together to reach this milestone.
The VA San Diego Supportive Housing Team, along with many community partners, came together to achieve this significant milestone. Their dedication and hard work are truly inspiring and deserving of our utmost appreciation.

The VA Supportive Housing (VASH) program focuses on finding housing for homeless Veterans. VASH just reached a milestone steady-state of housing 2,000 Veterans with housing vouchers at one time.

This VA San Diego program teams up with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to secure vouchers to assist with rental housing payments for Veterans in need.

“The HUD-VASH staff are so dedicated and I’m proud of the way they go above and beyond to ensure every Veteran has a permanent place to call home,” said Nicole Loebach, HUD-VASH Coordinator. “We are amazed by what they have been able to accomplish, and this milestone confirms they are the heart of our program.”

The voucher program started in 2008 in San Diego where housing assistance for Veterans comes through local public housing authorities to VA San Diego. Once Veterans secure a HUD-VASH voucher, it can remain in use as long as Veterans meet program eligibility requirements.

From May of 2023 to May of 2024, the number of Veterans housed with vouchers rose from 1750 to 2019 to cross the milestone. HUD-VASH vouchers in San Diego have been allocated to Veterans at a rate much higher than the VA national and Southwest regional VA rates.

Getting into permanent housing can be a complicated and time-consuming process. Once referred for assistance, Veterans meet with VA HUD-VASH staff to gather documents and submit voucher applications. Public housing authorities then evaluate, approve, and distribute housing vouchers. The next step is looking for suitable housing, a step that can take several months in a competitive housing market such as San Diego. Once located, housing is inspected, the landlord completes the contract, and Veterans set a move-in date for their permanent housing. VA staff provide ongoing case management once a Veteran has been housed to ensure that Veterans are connected to care and have support to maintain their housing. 

Several community partners assist VA along the way. They include Adjoin, Veterans Village of San Diego, People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), and local Public Housing Authorities for the City of San Diego, San Diego County, Oceanside, Imperial County, and the local Continuum of Care Regional Task Force for Homelessness. VA and HUD-VASH also partner with the County of San Diego in a local initiative, Leave No Veteran Homeless (sandiegocounty.gov) that includes finding housing for homeless Veterans. The program looks for even more participation from landlords in the community.