INDIANAPOLIS (WISH)– “No heroes should ever be homeless,” is a slogan on Helping Veterans and Families website. After a massive fire destroyed the HVAF apartments in downtown Indianapolis, 48 veterans were displaced; so far, only eight have found permanent homes.

While the city of Indianapolis honors and commemorates the veterans and their sacrifices on Veterans Day, former U.S. Marine Alan Stewart is housed temporarily at a hotel while he looks for a permanent home.

“We’re just like everyone else looking for a place to stay,” said Stewart.

He said he lost everything, but is grateful to be alive. “I’ve got the same thing I came here with me and what I got right now. Everyone got out and no one got hurt in the fire.”

Stewart has vouchers to help pay for housing, but most landlords won’t accept them for rent.

Emmy Hildebrand, CEO of HVAF, said, “Especially on Veterans Day, I think it’s worth pausing to reflect on the sacrifices our veterans have made and figuring out how we can honor them; accepting vouchers is one of those practical ways.”

Some landlords have explained that accepting vouchers creates an extra hassle due to additional regulations that would require federal inspections. Voucher payments are also sometimes delayed.

“Those who are using vouchers…it’s a guaranteed payment, so there’s really little risk for landlords to accept that,” said Hildebrand.

At the Veterans Day ceremony, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett didn’t give specific plans of when the veterans were going to get housed, but he did say he hopes it’s some time soon.

“The sooner, the better. We don’t have a specific date in mind; we’ve been working assiduously as we can to get them re-housed and we’re working through the voucher process with the Indianapolis Housing Agency,” he said.

Stewart says he’s looking for work, and in the meantime volunteers at the HVAF food pantry to occupy his mind and wait for good news.

“We got to go through through bad times to get through good times,” he said.