Navy veteran Matthew Kelly's home in San Antonio, Texas. Kelly was left stranded when the VA abruptly ended a mortgage program that's been helping save thousands of vets homes.
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Brenda Bazán for NPR
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Topline:
A program that, in just the last year, helped more than 33,000 veterans and servicemembers who got behind on their loans has been cut by the Trump administration.
Why now: Last month, out of fear of the potential cost, the VA abruptly did away with this safety net which gave vets new, low-interest-rate mortgages to help them stay in their homes.
Why it matters: There are about 80,000 vets in the U.S. behind on their mortgages and heading toward foreclosure, according to data from ICE Mortgage Technology. Veterans now have worse options than most Americans.
In California: The program had helped more than 1,800 veterans in California.
Jon Henry served in Iraq during the first Gulf War, in a unit meant to counter chemical warfare attacks. Luckily for him the attacks never happened, but he still earned full veterans benefits, including a home loan backed by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Henry, who lives outside Kansas City. Mo., fell behind on his mortgage after losing his job managing a manufacturing plant last October. And because of a move last month by the VA, vets like him with delinquent loans have far worse options than most other American homeowners who never served.
"My social media posts have not been nice to the director of the VA and have not been nice to Trump," Henry said. "And I voted for the guy!"
Henry was hoping to get help from the VA Servicing Purchase program, or VASP. In just the past year, according to the VA, it has helped more than 33,000 veterans and servicemembers who got behind on their loans by giving them a new, low-interest-rate mortgage.
But last month, out of fear of the potential cost, the VA abruptly did away with this safety net. It was the latest development in a VA mortgage saga that has whiplashed veterans between various enacted and cancelled programs and left thousands in fear of losing their homes. There are about 80,000 vets in the U.S. behind on their mortgages and heading toward foreclosure, according to data from ICE Mortgage Technology.
Navy Diver Matt Kelly in Salalah, Oman circa 2010 before doing an underwater sweep of a pier to look for improvised explosive devices.
"It's like, damn, you keep talking big about how you're doing all this for the veterans, but you just turned your back on 80,000 vets that have VA loans," Henry said.
Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress are questioning this move by the VA. And NPR has heard from more than 50 veterans around the country in recent weeks who say they are upset.
"I'm constantly terrified every day that some giant moving truck or some people are just gonna show up on the front door and kick us out and start throwing all of our stuff out of the house," said Mason Reale, a former Navy sonar technician in Lake Wales, Fla.
"It's infuriating and it's devastating," Matthew Kelly, a retired Navy Special Operations diver in San Antonio, Texas, told NPR.
The VA said in a statement to NPR that it "has a long-standing history of exploring options for Veterans to retain their homes."
But the VASP program was created as a crucial last resort to keep veterans in their homes. Current mortgage rates of around 7 percent mean the other option for a VA loan, a loan modification, often sharply raises the monthly payment, making it unaffordable. So without VASP, many veterans will have to choose between selling the house, or getting foreclosed on.
That leaves vets in a worse position than most other homeowners. Mortgages backed by the government either through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or FHA all have emergency options for delinquent borrowers that don't raise their interest rate or monthly payment. But that's not true anymore for veterans with loans backed by the VA, now that it's closed enrollment into VASP.
When VA secretary Doug Collins appeared before a U.S. Senate committee in May, he heard about it — and mostly from Republican lawmakers.
" I was just with a press conference back home with reporters back home," Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana told Collins. "They asked me about the VA servicing purchase program or VASP."
Cassidy cited NPR's reporting and asked about the VA "leaving veterans in the lurch."
Collins stood behind the VA's decision to end VASP. "The VASP program is something that we do not need to be in," he said.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins testifies on Capitol Hill on May 15.
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Kevin Dietsch
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Getty Images
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Collins and some other Republicans don't like the way VASP works to help vets with these troubled loans — by buying them up and rolling the missed payments into a new loan with a low 2.5 percent interest rate. They worry that puts too much taxpayer money at risk since the VA holds the new loans on its own books.
At a recent house hearing, Collins said the program was going to cost "multiple billions of dollars" going forward and that "it's a program we should have never gotten into."
Collins said he's hoping Congress passes legislation to replace VASP with what's called a "partial claim" program. That takes the homeowners' missed payments and moves that debt to the end of the homeowner's loan term. Homeowners then start paying their mortgage again with their original interest rate and monthly payment.
VA used to have a partial claim option for veterans but it was suddenly shut down in late 2022 during the Biden administration. That, too, left thousands of vets with far worse options than other homeowners. After NPR reported on that misstep, the VA halted foreclosures for an entire year while it rolled out VASP to rescue vets from losing their homes. Now Trump's VA has scuttled that rescue program.
"We look forward to seeing how that legislation… the partial claim comes through," Collins told senators at last month's hearing.
But Democrats slammed Collins and the VA for basically ripping up the VASP safety net before anything has been set up to replace it. Congressman Chris Pappas of New Hampshire said vets facing foreclosure are left just hoping Congress will act in time.
"That's not a good enough answer for my constituent," Pappas told Collins at another recent hearing. "Veterans I talked to don't agree with the abrupt ending to VASP," Pappas said.
Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) says he's concerned about veterans facing imminent foreclosure after the abrupt cancellation of the VASP program.
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Sarah Silbiger/Pool
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AFP via Getty Images
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At the Senate hearing, Arkansas Republican John Boozman gently made that same point to Collins, asking what the VA can do for veterans right now, and for the unknown number of months that it may take for Congress to pass, and VA to set up, a new program.
"How does the VA plan to help veterans at risk of foreclosure?" Boozman asked. "You know it's one thing going forward, it's another thing for those individuals that are caught up in that now, and it makes it really difficult."
Asked by Pappas whether he would consider another foreclosure moratorium for vets, Collins replied: " I'm not gonna commit to a program on the fly here in the middle of the hearing. I understand your concern."
Navy Diver Matt Kelly (left) in Scuba gear on a training mission with divers from Trinidad and Tobago in 2012.<br>
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Margaret Reborchick
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U.S. Navy
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The mortgage program has been a real concern for veterans like the former Navy diver Matt Kelly. Kelly suffered a brain injury during his service. He still gets headaches, and a few years ago they stopped him from working for a while.
"I was getting terrible migraines," he said. " I thought I needed time to deal with my medical stuff. "
Kelly's mortgage company allowed him to pause payments and told him he'd have an affordable way to catch up later. Indeed, VASP would have done that. But then the VA shut it down, leaving Kelly panicked about losing his home, and not knowing where he'd go with his wife and three young kids.
When NPR first spoke to Kelly in April, he said he'd been up most of the previous night, worrying what to do.
After his Navy service, Kelly worked in a search and rescue and underwater recovery unit for Grand Canyon National Park.
"I shake uncontrollably," Kelly said. "My wife woke me up and said I was shaking. But right now I'm more pissed off and angry."
After NPR asked the VA and Kelly's mortgage company, Loancare, about his situation, the president of the companycalled NPR to say that, in Kelly's case, the company actually made some mistakes that led to Kelly not getting enrolled in VASP in time. He said Loancare will eat the cost and give Kelly a new, low-interest-rate loan with the same terms as VASP.
Thousands of other vets who are still behind on their loans haven't been so fortunate. Both Jon Henry and Mason Reale initially had trouble qualifying for VASP and now the program is closed so they won't get the help. Kelly says he's worried about other vets.
"It's a responsibility of the VA. They announced this program, then they canceled the program, and they're leaving veterans hanging," Kelly said, adding, "their mission to protect veterans and care for veterans is not being fulfilled."
Meanwhile, Congress is working on a replacement for the VA home loan safety net. One bill has passed in the House and two bills have been introduced in the Senate. But it's not clear how long the process of standing up a new VA safety net might take, or how many veterans will lose their homes in the meantime.
Copyright 2025 NPR
Fiona Ng
is LAist's deputy managing editor and leads a team of reporters who explore food, culture, history, events and more.
Published March 1, 2026 7:39 AM
A man raises the historical Iranian Lion and Sun flag during a rally in the Westwood neighborhood on Saturday.
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Genaro Molina
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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Topline:
Angelenos took to the streets of downtown Los Angeles and Westwood on Saturday in response to the US-Israeli military strikes in Iran.
Details: Local demonstrations protesting U.S. intervention took place outside City Hall in downtown Los Angeles, as well as in Ventura and Orange counties. In Westwood, Iranian Americans gathered to celebrate the strikes. More demonstrations are planned on today and tomorrow.
Read on to see photos from Saturday's demonstrations.
Angelenos took to the streets of downtown Los Angeles and Westwood on Saturday in response to the US-Israeli military strikes in Iran.
A coalition of organizations, including the National Iranian American Council, the ANSWER coalition and 50501, held protests nationwide in reaction.
Local demonstrations took place outside City Hall in downtown Los Angeles, as well as in Ventura and Orange counties.
In Westwood, Iranian Americans gathered to celebrate the strikes. More demonstrations are planned on today and tomorrow.
Here are photos from yesterday.
Westwood
Hundreds rally seeking regime change in Iran in the Westwood neighborhood on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026 in Los Angeles, Calif. The rally was organized after works spread that the US and Israel had bombed Iran over night, local time, killing Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei among others.
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Genaro Molina
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/Los Angeles Times via Getty Image
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Los Angeles, Calif., United States - February 28: Hundreds rally waving the historical Iranian Lion and Sun and American flags the in the Westwood neighborhood on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026 in Los Angeles, Calif. The rally was organized after works spread that the US and Israel had bombed Iran over night, local time.(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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Genaro Molina
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Los Angeles Times
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Hundreds rally seeking regime change in Iran in the Westwood neighborhood on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026 in Los Angeles, Calif. The rally was organized after works spread that the US and Israel had bombed Iran over night, local time, killing Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei among others.
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Genaro Molina
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Image
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A man walks under the colors if Iran while joining hundreds in a rally seeking regime change in Iran in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, Calif.. on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. The rally was organized after works spread that the US and Israel had bombed Iran over night, local time, killing Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei among others.
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Genaro Molina
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Image
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Downtown Los Angeles
A protester holds a poster reading "drop the files not the bombs" during a demonstration against the war in Iran in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California, on February 28, 2026.
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Etienne Laurent
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AFP via Getty Images
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A crowd gathered at Los Angeles City Hall to protest against United States and Israel bombing Iran on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026 in Los Angeles, Calif. on Feb. 28, 2026. (Photo by Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
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Myung J. Chun
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Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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A protester holds a portrait of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a flag of Iran during a demonstration against the war in Iran in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California, on February 28, 2026.
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Etienne Laurent
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AFP via Getty Images
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Protesters holds placards reading "no new US war in the Middle East" during a demonstration against the war in Iran in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, California, on February 28, 2026.
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Etienne Laurent
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AFP via Getty Images
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A man holds a sign at Los Angeles City Hall to protest against United States and Israel bombing Iran on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026 in Los Angeles, Calif. on Feb. 28, 2026. (Photo by Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Josie Huang
is a reporter and Weekend Edition host who spotlights the people and places at the heart of our region.
Published March 1, 2026 6:08 AM
L.A. street artist S.C. Mero stands next to her latest installation in the Arts District, a utility box theater.
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Courtesy of S.C. Mero
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Topline:
Utility boxes are a popular canvas for public art, but an Los Angeles street artist has taken the idea further — transforming one into a miniature theater.
Why now: Since S.C. Mero installed the box theater just a few weeks ago, dozens of performers have already reached out and begun using the space, ranging from poets to musicians and clowns.
The backstory: Mero often transforms overlooked street fixtures into pieces about urban life. A previous installation at the same corner — an oversized mailbox symbolizing the elusiveness of homeownership — stood for about five years.
Walk through cities around the world and it's easy to spot the trend: utility boxes painted and transformed into public art to spiff up neighborhoods.
In downtown Los Angeles, street artist S.C. Mero has taken the idea of the utility box as art in a different direction with one she’s installed in the Arts District.
“Would you like me to open it up and you can see?” she asked on a recent morning.
At first glance, it looks like an ordinary electrical cabinet — gray and about the size of a refrigerator. But instead of the usual fire-resistant metal, this one is made of wood with a faux concrete base.
The box theater incognito.
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Courtesy of S.C. Mero
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She spins two combination locks and pulls open the door.
A hidden theater
Inside, instead of a tangle of cables and cords, crushed red velvet covers the walls from top to bottom.
A gilded clock and gold-framed pictures of two other electrical boxes (“possibly its mother, and its great-grandfather”) adorn the tiny interior, inspired by one of downtown’s oldest movie palaces, the Los Angeles Theatre.
“The first time I went into that theater, the feeling that I had, I wanted people to have a similar feeling when they opened this up,” she said.
Like the theater, the box is meant to bring audiences together. Mero invites performers to step inside and since its installation a few weeks ago, some 30 poets, magicians, puppeteers and clowns have reached out about using the space.
Many are female artists.
“Maybe it's because of the scale of it, they feel like they can actually have a chance to get inside,” Mero said.
A tradition of unexpected art
The box theater sits across the street from the historic American Hotel, an early hub for artists in the neighborhood.
Jesse Easter, the hotel’s night manager, has a front-row seat to the box theater performances.
“It was the seminal message of the Arts District is still alive,” he says.
Easter first arrived in the neighborhood in the 1980s, a blues and rock musician who also professionally installed art.
He said the Arts District has long been known for unconventional public art. Famously in 1982, artist Dustin Shuler pinned a Cessna airplane to the side of the American Hotel with a 20-foot-long nail.
“I was one of the people that was in the hotel that saw the room that the nail came down into, went through the brick wall, into the floor and stopped,” Easter recalls.
Easter says Mero’s installations boldly continue that tradition of guerilla street art in the neighborhood.
After graduating from USC in 2011, she started to make sculptural works with overlooked street fixtures, exploring issues such as addiction and homelessness.
Before the box theater, there was a giant mailbox.
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Courtesy of S.C. Mero
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Before the theater box, Mero installed an oversized mailbox at the same corner towering over passersby, symbolizing a housing market that remains out of reach for many Angelenos.
Elsewhere in the Arts District, she has installed a 13-foot-tall parking meter sculpture, commentary on the overwhelming nature of parking in the city.
Realizing a dream
The box theater is perhaps the piece that has invited the most participation.
Jesse Easter, a musician and night manager at the American Hotel, prepares to perform at the box theater.
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Courtesy of S.C. Mero
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Last week, Mero asked Easter and other local artists to perform there. He played a blues song he wrote more than 40 years ago when he first moved to the Arts District.
“It was sunset and I was thinking, this kind of is the bookend,” he said.
Other participants performed spoken word poetry and played saxophone.
One performer, Mike Cuevas, discovered the theater by accident.
An Uber driver, Cuevas was waiting for his next delivery order by the box theater as it was being prepped ahead of the night’s performance.
Mero recalls him getting out of his car to look at what she was doing.
“He's like, what's going on here? This looks so cool,” Mero said. “He said as he's driving throughout the city, in between his rides, he writes poetry.”
Cuevas, who goes by the pen name Octane 543(12), left to make a delivery in East L.A., but he said “something in his heart” told him to return that evening.
After watching others perform, he stepped up to the box and read his poetry in public for the first time, a piece about Latino pride.
Mike Cuevas, aka Mike Octane 543-12, publicly reads his poetry for the first time.
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Courtesy of S.C. Mero
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“Another generation will pass through,” he recited. “And they'll understand why we honor with proud delight, the continuous fight for the history of our brothers and sisters.”
Cuevas didn’t know Mero by name or anything about her work, but thanks her for giving him a venue.
“I just felt something beautiful with her art,” Cuevas said. “It's time for me to start expressing myself. She inspired me to do exactly what she's doing but through poetry.”
He now plans to read again at an open mic in downtown L.A. next week.
An overture to look inside
Mero says the project has spoken to her personally, too. Growing up in Minnesota, she loved art as a child but later focused on playing lacrosse and hockey. At USC, she studied public relations.
“Once I started getting so into art, everyone was kind of shocked,” Mero said. “That's why I really want to encourage people to go inside themselves and see what's there, because you never know.”
Mero is hoping for a long run for the box theater. The mailbox installation before it stayed up for five years, only toppled, she heard, after skateboarders accidentally ran into it.
In the meantime, the small theater sits quietly on the sidewalk waiting for its next performer, its exterior starting to collect graffiti like any other utility box.
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A Super Blue Blood Moon hovers over Los Angeles in 2018.
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FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
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AFP
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Topline:
A total lunar eclipse is happening this Tuesday. That's when the earth will move directly between the sun and moon, casting a “blood” red color onto the moon.
What: It's going to be the first lunar eclipse of the year. The process is slated to start around midnight and last until dawn on Tuesday. It’s called the “Blood Moon” because of the red hue the earth’s atmosphere refracts onto the lunar surface as light from the sun passes through it.
When: Although the eclipse begins around midnight, it won’t reach totality until 3:04 a.m., at which point it will be visible to the naked eye for about an hour. All of Southern California should be able to see it.
How else can I watch: The Griffith Observatory will be hosting a live virtual broadcast of the celestial event from midnight to dawn.
What's next: This isn’t the only lunar eclipse happening this year, but it is the only “total eclipse,” according to NASA. Another one is set to occur in August, but it will only be partially visible in North America. A solar eclipse will occur Aug. 12.
An adult gray whale and its calf approach tourists.
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Courtesy José Eugenio Gómez Rodríguez
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Topline:
With warm — relative to Alaska — spring waters, migratory rest-stops and great feeding grounds, Los Angeles County’s coast is considered part of the “Blue Highway,” a crucial whale migration corridor and one of the best places to spot the gentle giants.
What might you see? Cetacean species you may spot in our waters include humpback whales, orcas, blue whales and dolphins. Your best chance, however, is spotting a gray whale. As school-bus-sized gray whales migrate back and forth between Alaska and Baja, they consistently hug LA’s coastline.
Read on ... for tips on where and how to spot whales near you.
It’s whale watching season, which always makes me think of the novel Moby-Dick.
In the book, Captain Ahab chased a whale for vengeance. I recently chased whales off the coast of Los Angeles, but in my case, it was in pursuit of the beauty and majesty of the natural world.
With warm — relative to Alaska — spring waters, migratory rest-stops and great feeding grounds, Los Angeles County’s coast is considered part of the “Blue Highway,” a crucial whale migration corridor and one of the best places to spot the gentle giants.
According to Cabrillo Marine Aquarium program director Jim DiPompei, many whales can be seen right in our backyard.
“There’s a little over 90 species of cetaceans (marine mammals) in the world, and we see about 30% of the species we could possibly see here in Southern California,” DiPompei told The LA Local.
Cetacean species you may spot in our waters include humpback whales, orcas, blue whales and dolphins. Your best chance, however, is spotting a gray whale. As school bus-sized gray whales migrate back and forth between Alaska and Baja, they consistently hug LA’s coastline.
But where should you go to actually get a good look at whales? Don’t worry — I got you. Here’s The LA Local guide to cruising the Blue Highway.
Top spots to watch whales from shore
Point Vicente Interpretive Center 31501 Palos Verdes Drive West, Rancho Palos Verdes Free, laid-back, on the mountains!
At the Point Vicente Interpretive Center in Rancho Palos Verdes, you’ll find an overlook dedicated to whale watching. While this is a great free spot for amateurs to come and look out for whales, this is no playground. Professionals conduct the annual whale census here, tracking the migration of whales.
This is a great place to bring a picnic basket and some binoculars to relax while scanning the ocean. Even if you don’t spot any whale action, you can visit the free natural history museum inside, which focuses on the region and its most famous inhabitants: whales. Afterward, step outside and chat with a museum docent accompanying the census watch.
If you want to see whales, stick to the coastal canyons. Canyons aren’t just massive structures above water — they are also mountains beneath the surface, offering depth, cold water and nutrients that attract food for whales. Gray whales tend to follow the canyons to stay away from the dangerous orcas.
Whale spotting 101
Whale watching season typically runs from December through May. It peaks from January to March.
When looking for a whale, try to spot their water mist blowing above the water. Gray whales typically surface for air every five minutes. When they do, they’ll blow out a water mist — that’s your chance to spot and track them until they surface again.
Get on a boat!
If you want to get eye-to-eye and really feel a cetacean’s scale, there are plenty of whale-watching cruises. They typically depart from Marina Del Rey, Redondo Beach, Long Beach, San Pedro, Dana Point and almost anywhere with a port.
Many cruises have a naturalist on board to answer questions and provide expert context to ocean wildlife.
On my tour departing from Long Beach, we saw five gray whales and a swarm of common dolphins feeding.
But be warned: If you get seasick easily, this trip might not be for you. On our two-and-half-hour trip, the boat rocked emphatically as we approached feeding sites. It’s fun if you can imagine yourself on a see-saw, but it might not be that enjoyable if that sounds nauseating.
While boat captains are not allowed to approach the whales too closely due to environmental protections, the whales can approach the boat if they choose. Sometimes the whales seem curious and watch us in return — it’s up to them and how they are feeling.
Get involved
Cabrillo Marine Aquarium 3720 Stephen M. White Drive, San Pedro
If you really catch the whale-watching bug, you’re in luck.
At the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, they offer a whale-watching naturalist program where you can volunteer and train to be a naturalist on board whale-watching cruises.
DiPompei said they train anyone over the age of 18 “who’s interested in learning about whales and volunteering their time to be on these whale-watching boats to talk to the general public and to talk to students.”
This program was started in the 1970s by John Olge, one of the founders of Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, with an emphasis on education and showing schoolchildren the beauty of our natural world.
The aquarium is also a great place to introduce whales to children. With kid-sized exhibits and educational programs throughout the year, it’s an ideal way to show young ones just how big and beautiful our oceans are.
