2025 Virtual Living Room Grant Program is a grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, administered through the Foundation for Rural Service (FRS), that funds telehealth access hubs for veterans in rural communities.

The program helps rural telecommunications providers establish dedicated spaces—such as VFW lodges or American Legion halls—equipped with technology for veterans to connect with VA physicians and telehealth resources, reducing travel burdens for those located more than an hour from a VA clinic. Eligible applicants are rural telecommunications organizations that can partner with a local VA facility.

Award amounts vary; applicants are encouraged to assess community need and establish VA partnerships before applying. No current deadline is listed.

Virtual Living Room | FRS - Foundation for Rural Service Create a Place Where Veterans Can Feel at Home Virtual Living Room ® is an FRS grant program that blends rural technology, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) resources and local support to encourage veteran use of advanced medical technologies.

Virtual Living Room saves veterans travel time and costs while enabling connections to skilled physicians and other providers in the VA medical system such as telehealth and other online resources. Get started today and make a difference in your community. Questions?

Contact [email protected] . Virtual Living Room Locations Across the Country Building a Virtual Living Room is not as difficult as it seems. These few easy steps will help you get started.

Step 1: Assess your Community's Need Assess your community’s need. Are you located more than an hour away from a VA clinic or hospital? If yes, then you have a Virtual Living Room need to help your community veterans with accessible VA care.

Step 2: Contact Your Local VA Establish a relationship with your local VA and let them know of your telco's interest in providing a Virtual Living Room in your community. Locate your VA: Need additional assistance? Contact [email protected] .

More Resources: Once you've connected with your contact at the VA, here are some talking points to help you start the conversation. You can establish your Virtual Living Room anywhere. Examples include: a Veterans of Foreign War lodge, American Legion, library, firehouse, church or community center.

Your space should be private, have adequate electrical connections to support a computer workstation, lamps and peripherals and have broadband provided by an NTCA member. (Privacy can be enhanced with the use of “white noise” machines; a sound-proof environment is recommended to support the privacy of users.)

Step 4: Apply for the FRS Virtual Living Room Grant Funding Once established, the success of the Virtual Living Room will depend on its use by veterans. Toward this end, a coordinated effort among the host, NTCA member and VA partner to publicize the availability of the Virtual Living Room is important.

Publicity can include media ads in the local market as well as printed material such as brochures that are made available at various locations in the relevant service area. A Brief History of the Virtual Living Room In 2014, several NTCA members met with the Veterans Administration Office of Rural Health to brainstorm strategies to address critical healthcare needs for veterans in rural areas.

Over the next two years, NTCA, through the Smart Rural Community initiative, developed summits with the White House Rural Council to address rural needs. These gatherings brought together a wide range of private and public sector organizations with rural interests. As part of these meetings, a rural health care summit in 2016 reintroduced NTCA members to the VA.

Encouraged by the interest of senior leadership, NTCA worked with the VA and NTCA member Peoples Rural Telephone Cooperative (PRTC) to launch the pilot Virtual Living Room site in McKee, Kentucky.

Supported through a Smart Rural Community grant , this undertaking provides critical access to VA telehealth and other online resources and is a shining example of community collaboration as PRTC, the VA and the Jackson County Public Library pooled resources to bring our vision to reality.

The Foundation for Rural Service , with the generous assistance of CoBank, is now proud to offer significant funding to support the establishment of more Virtual Living Rooms throughout the United States. Photo: NTCA members meet with VA Office of Rural Health Executive Director Dr. Thomas Klobucar in 2014.

Additional Resources for Veterans and their Families The VA's Virtual Health Resource Centers (VHRCs) offer support to Veterans, their family members and caregivers, and VA staff looking to take advantage of virtual care tools. They provide guidance, hands-on support, training, and other information regarding virtual care tools, such as VA Video Connect and My HealthVet.

To find a VHRC location near you, go to the Connected Care website. In addition to Virtual Health Resource Centers (VHRCs), the VA has other programs that provide telehealth skills and resources to Veterans: The Digital Divide Consult connects Veterans who do not have internet access or a video-capable device (like a tablet) with resources that provide internet service or technology needed for VA video visits.

For more information, talk with your VA provider to determine your eligibility for this program. Accessing Telehealth Through Local Area Students (ATLAS) is part of VA's Anywhere to Anywhere telehealth initiative, which sets out to better serve the nearly 9 million Veterans who receive care through VA -- no matter where they are.

ATLAS provides locations that offer private appointment space equipped for telehealth appointments for Veterans who face long travel times to a VA facility and/or have limited internet access at home.