The power of spiritual care in supporting homeless Veterans

By Shawn Liu, National Homeless Program Manager, VHA Homeless Programs Office

May 19, 2026

When a Veteran loses their home, the world around them often narrows down to a search for the basics, such as a warm bed, a hot meal and a shower. It’s natural to assume a person must be fed and housed before they can even think about their spiritual and emotional well-being. But the reality is often the exact opposite.

For a Veteran experiencing homelessness, spiritual care isn’t a luxury to be addressed after they are housed; it is often the very anchor that helps them hold on during the hardest days of displacement. That is why VA does not treat spiritual health as a separate or competing priority, but instead views recovery as a circle, in which spiritual health is interwoven with every other aspect of care.