Ritz veterans at risk of losing housing

The Ocala Ritz Veterans Village, formerly the Ritz Historic Inn, is shown on East Silver Springs Boulevard in Ocala on Sept. 13, 2022. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette file photo]

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Posted May 21, 2026 | By Andy Fillmore, [email protected]

About 40 formerly homeless veterans living at the Ocala Ritz Veterans Village could face homelessness if alternate funding isn’t found to replace a lapsed grant, according to the facility’s operator.      

The current funding for case management programs at the Ritz ends on Sept. 30, according to a press release from the outreach provider, Volunteers of America of Florida.

VOAF and Department of Veterans Affairs representatives have been working with each veteran to avoid a housing crisis, VOAF President and CEO Janet Stringfellow stated in a phone interview.

“I’ve been praying and working,” she said.

Stringfellow said VOAF had hired an outside grant writer to handle the upcoming grant application for funding beyond September and the application was filed minutes past the VA deadline. She said the missed grant opportunity amounted to $15 million, or $5 million annually, over the next three years. She said it would have covered about 189 veterans in six counties at six facilities. She said VOAF has secured the grant since they began the outreach in Ocala and the grant will not become available for application for another three years.

“It’s a big loss, heartbreaking,” she said.  

VOAF announced the possible stoppage of transitional housing programs for homeless veterans in a press release issued from their headquarters in St. Petersburg.

“VOAF announced that its grant and per diem (GPD) programs in Tallahassee, Lake City, Jacksonville, Gainesville, Ocala and Tampa are expected to conclude on Sept. 30, 2026, absent a reversal or alternative funding solution, following a lapse in renewal of approximately $5 million in annual U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) GPD funding for these locations,” the release stated.

“No veteran is being asked to leave immediately. Veterans currently residing in these programs may remain in place while individualized transition planning is underway. VOAF staff, VA representatives and community partners will work alongside each veteran to prepare and secure safe, stable and appropriate housing options in advance of Sept. 30, 2026,” the press release stated.  

The VA website describes the overall GPD Program.

“Since 1994, the GPD program has awarded grants to community-based organizations to provide transitional housing with wraparound supportive services to assist vulnerable veterans move into permanent housing. The grants are designed to meet veterans at various stages as they move to stable housing,” according to va.gov 

A VA public affairs spokesman said the agency was looking into the situation and indicated a statement would be forthcoming.

The historic Ritz, located at 111 NE 12th Ave., Ocala, was built in 1925 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The building was purchased by VOAF in 2010 for $800,000, refurbished and transformed into a 44-room transitional housing facility for veterans, county records indicate.

Soon, according to locally published reports, VOAF began offering “clinical treatment, transitional housing and individualized case management for veterans experiencing homelessness,” under the GPD program. 

According to an Aug. 31, 2024, “Gazette” article, veterans in the program received support from using laundry equipment to Bible study and frequent self-help seminars on topics like PTSD in an atmosphere of “structure and accountability,” according to a resident. 

One veteran spoke of celebrating “two years of sobriety” in the article. Residents share a bedroom and fees are based upon income, according to the article.  

“This is heartbreaking for us, specially in the eve of Memorial Day weekend,” Stringfellow stated.