Pick the one that's true today. You don't have to fix everything at once. Nobody does.
Tonight comes first. These people can get a veteran a bed, a meal, and a shower — today, not next month.
You may be owed monthly compensation, free health care, or a pension. Filing is free through an accredited officer. Never pay anyone a cut.
You've been on hold. You've been told to fill out another form. A Still Serves advocate is a veteran who walks it with you — rides, paperwork, sitting in the waiting room.
This is the route most veterans take from the street to stable. It's not fast and it's not fair, but it works when somebody stays on it with you. Each step says what it is, why it matters, what to bring, and who to call.
Nothing else on this page works if you're freezing or starving. Handle tonight. Then come back.
No papers at all? You can still get a bed tonight. Shelters and the VA can verify service later. Don't let missing paperwork stop you from calling.
The DD-214 is the key that unlocks every door behind it — VA health care, housing vouchers, disability pay, pension. Lost it? Normal. Most guys have. It's replaceable and it's free.
Discharge wasn't honorable? You may still qualify for a lot of this — and discharge upgrades are real. Talk to a VSO before you assume you're out.
This is the step people skip, and it's the one that matters most. Once you're enrolled, the Fayetteville VA's homeless team, mental health, substance treatment, and housing programs can all see you and work for you. Enrollment is not the same as a disability claim — you can do this today.
Combat veteran? The Vet Center at 1416 N College Ave (479-582-7152) will see you for counseling without VA enrollment. Separate system, no wait for eligibility.
There are three main VA housing lanes, and most veterans get told about only one. Ask for all three by name. The right one depends on your situation, not on who you happened to talk to.
Don't sign a lease you can't carry. If someone pushes you into housing with no income plan, slow down and call your advocate. Housing you lose in 90 days is worse than another month in GPD.
If your service left you with a bad back, bad knees, hearing loss, PTSD, sleep apnea, TBI, a burn-pit lung, or a dozen other things — the VA owes you monthly compensation, and that money changes everything downstream. The claim process is slow and picky. Here's how to not get chewed up by it.
Never pay a "claim consultant." Anyone asking for a percentage of your back pay, a fee up front, or your VA login is a shark. Accredited reps are free by law. Check anyone at va.gov/ogc/apps/accreditation.
A disability check can take months. You need something that lands sooner, and something that lasts longer. Stack them.
Most veterans who end up on the street are carrying something — PTSD, a drinking problem, a charge from a bad night, a divorce. None of it disqualifies you. All of it has a door.
Stable isn't a finish line; it's a thing you maintain. Still Serves advocates keep checking in after the crisis — rides to appointments, a call before the C&P exam, somebody to notice if you go quiet. And when you're steady, you come back for the next one. That's the whole model.
"Still Serves" isn't about us helping you. It's about the fact that you still serve. You just needed a hand getting back on your feet to do it.
Every number below is a real line to a real office in or serving Northwest Arkansas, checked by us. Tap any number to call. If one is wrong or dead, tell us and we'll fix it the same day.
Phone trees. Lost paperwork. Denied for a missing signature. Waitlists that outlast people. We know — we've been on hold too. The VA still owns the housing vouchers and pays the checks, so we don't replace it. We stand next to you and make it work.
A veteran calls you back. Not a bot, not a voicemail box that's full.
We'll drive you to the VA, sit in the waiting room, and go into the appointment if you want us there.
Weekly check-ins until you're housed, enrolled, and your claim is moving. Then we keep checking.
Advocates are volunteers — mostly veterans, some not. We are not lawyers, VA employees, or accredited claims agents. We get you to the people who are, and we make sure they do their job.
A veteran will reach out.
You already did the hard part.
For family, friends, pastors, officers, nurses, librarians, landlords — anyone standing in front of a veteran who's in trouble and doesn't know where to start.
We need veterans who remember what the first 90 days out felt like, and civilians who have a truck, a free Tuesday, or a stubborn streak. You don't need credentials. You need to pick up the phone and show up when you said you would.
Advocates get a short orientation on how the VA, SSVF, and the county offices actually work, a folder of forms, and a veteran to walk with. Most advocates carry one or two people at a time.
Lawyers, nurses, social workers, and accredited VSOs who can give a few hours a month. Say so in the form.
Welcome to the unit.
We'll be in touch.
Justin Kelsey spent ten years in the U.S. Army. He was a truck gunner in Operation Iraqi Freedom, pulled security under Operation Noble Eagle, and during Joint Task Force Katrina led logistics and search-and-rescue operations while guarding millions of dollars in relief supplies for people who had lost everything.
He came home with two Army Commendation Medals, Army Achievement Medals, Global War on Terrorism decorations — and the same thing most of us came home with: a VA system that is enormous, well-funded, and almost impossible to navigate alone. He has watched good soldiers lose years to a denied claim, a missed appointment, a form nobody told them about. Some of them lost more than years.
Still Serves is his answer. Not a replacement for the VA — a veteran standing next to you while you deal with it. Katrina taught him that the difference between a disaster and a recovery is usually one person with a plan who refuses to leave.
Shelters, churches, police, libraries, ER nurses — this is the one page to have on hand. The print button prints only the card.
The two-page street survival guide. How to stay alive, fed, clean, and safe outside in Northwest Arkansas until we get you in — meals, warming centers, hygiene, storms, security, the free bus. Print it double-sided, fold it once, hand it to anyone who served.