Veterans connect to housing, other support through SSVF

Seeing families get a good night’s sleep is one of the joys Amanda Emch gets from working in the Great Lakes Community Action Partnership (GLCAP) Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program. 

“When a family is moving in and you can see it all come to fruition—I think that makes you feel the best,” Emch said. 

Funded by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), SSVF helps veterans and their families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness connect with stable housing. Emch, a health and housing navigator, is one of the GLCAP SSVF staff members who assisted 177 veteran households in an 11-county region move from homelessness to safe housing in 2023. 

The program covers deposit, moving expenses, and other costs for veterans in need of housing support. Typically, SSVF participants are in the program for an average of six months. During this time, advocates can help veterans develop a long-term plan for stability, which may include connecting them to employment, securing social security or disability benefits, or linking them to other means of support.

One of Emch’s main roles is to help clients in SSVF secure long-term housing support through HUD-VASH, or Housing & Urban Development-Veteran Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers. HUD-VASH vouchers, Emch said, are like veteran-specific Section 8 vouchers, which provide housing subsidies for eligible families to use to cover the cost of rent. 

Emch’s first step to helping anyone in need of assistance is to start the enrollment process to connect veterans with the VA. While this is a relatively easy process, Emch said not all veterans may be aware that they are eligible for benefits.

“They may not know how to apply or what to do next to get linked to the VA,” Emch said. “Or maybe when they left the service, they didn’t need the VA, but now they need the VA and aren’t sure what to do next.”

Emch said she is happy to assist veterans with the enrollment process. 

Likewise, while SSVF is a housing-focused program, staff also help coordinate assistance for healthcare, food, and other needs for veterans from a variety of sources. Emch and SSVF advocates may also help veterans in SSVF apply for SNAP benefits for food assistance, register for Medicare or Medicaid, or access other benefits they need. 

“It’s rewarding to help veterans be at peace.”

More information on GLCAP’s SSVF program is available by calling 800-775-9767 or visiting www.glcap.org/veterans.