Program Eligibility and Overview

The goal of Operation Sacred Trust is to promote housing stability among very low-income Veteran families who reside in or are transitioning to permanent housing.

Eligible Participants

To be considered for participation, the following conditions must be met:

1. A member of a “Veteran family”: Either

• A Veteran; or
• A member of a family in which the head of household, or the spouse of the head of household, is a Veteran. (Note: The head of household should be identified by the Veteran family.)

2. “Very low-income”: Household income does not exceed 50% of area median income. Unless VA announces otherwise in the NOFA, the median income for an area or community will be determined using the income limits most recently published by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for programs under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f), which can be found at http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/il.html.

3. “Occupying Permanent Housing”: A very low-income Veteran family is considered to be occupying permanent housing if they fall into one of three categories:

• Is residing in permanent housing;
• Is homeless and scheduled to become a resident of permanent housing within 90 days pending the location or development of housing suitable for permanent housing; or
• Has exited permanent housing within the previous 90 days to seek other housing that is responsive to the very low-income Veteran family’s needs and preferences. Note: There are time restrictions and limitations on uses of grant funds with respect to the categories of participants grantees may serve. The following table describes the three categories of “occupying permanent housing” as well as the time restrictions related to each. 

Operation Sacred Trust aims to improve the housing stability of very low-income Veteran families by providing outreach and case management services, assisting participants to obtain VA benefits and other public benefits, which may include:

• Vocational and rehabilitation counseling;
• Employment and training service;
• Educational assistance;
• Health care services;
• Daily living services;
• Personal financial planning services;
• Transportation services;
• Income support services;
• Fiduciary and representative payee services;
• Legal services;
• Child care services;
• Housing counseling services; and
• Other supportive services, including time-limited payments to third parties (e.g., temporary financial assistance payments on behalf of Veteran families to landlords, utility companies, moving companies, and eligible child care providers) provided these payments help Veteran families remain in permanent housing or obtain permanent housing.