What is Interim Housing?

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

March 2, 2026

“Interim housing” is a relatively new term used to talk about services for homeless and at-risk Veterans.

It’s basically temporary housing where Veterans experiencing homelessness can stay while on their journey to permanent housing.

In VA, interim housing usually takes two forms:

• Emergency shelter provided by the Health Care for Homeless Veterans (HCHV) Contracted Residential Services (CRS) program
• Transitional housing provided by the Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem (GPD) program.

What is HCHV CRS?

HCHV CRS provides immediate shelter to Veterans with serious mental health diagnoses or other clinical needs and supports them as they transition from short-term transitional housing into quality, community-based supportive housing.

What is GPD?

The GPD program is VA’s largest transitional housing program for Veterans experiencing homelessness. Since 1994, the GPD program has awarded grants to community-based organizations to provide transitional housing with supportive services to assist vulnerable Veterans with moving into permanent housing. The grants are designed to meet Veterans at various stages as they move to stable housing.

Community-based organizations receiving GPD grants offer transitional housing services through a variety of housing models targeted to different populations and needs of Veterans. The GPD program plays a vital role in the continuum of homeless services by providing supportive services to those Veterans who would otherwise be among the unsheltered homeless population