While veterans may represent a proportionally small segment of homeowners, there's recently been a call to devote more attention and resources toward accommodating our heroes once they return from service.

According to the National Housing Conference, understanding how America's veteran population is changing — and will change in the future — is critical to developing policies and programs to meet their housing and service needs.

Older veterans (age 55 and older) who currently make up the largest cohort of the U.S. veteran population increasingly will need housing, as well as supportive services that can enable them to age in their homes or communities.

The NHC reports that female veterans with children make up a growing share of the U.S. veteran population, but many housing and supportive service programs targeting veterans currently do not serve single-parent families well.

And the most recent veterans, those who served following 9/11, have returned to a slow-growing economy and rising home prices and rents, which have made the transition from military service to civilian life difficult for many, the NHC report states.

Another report from the National Housing Conference’s Center for Housing Policy affirms that one size does not fit all when it comes to housing and supportive services for America’s veterans - particularly those closer to aging in place.

In 2013, nearly two-thirds of the veteran population consisted of older adults aged 55 or older. And roughly one in four of those households spend more than one third of their income on housing costs, leaving little for other expenses.

The report pegs America's female veteran population at 2.3 million and growing, and reiterates that more housing options are needed to address the needs of these women and their families while they transition from military service.

We'll continue to look at how communities, home builders and real estate professionals are working with our veterans as they make decisions about aging in place, or finding their very first civilian home after discharge.