Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in the Dec. 20 edition of Military Times.

A Defense Department agency dedicated to caring for aging enlisted veterans is facing financial shortfalls that could deplete its trust fund within 20 years and affect its ability to serve those retired and former service members, a government watchdog has found.

The number of residents living at the Armed Forces Retirement Home system has declined in recent years, as has revenue, even as expenses continue to increase, according to a recent Government Accountability Office report on the program, known for short as AFRH.

The Armed Forces Retirement Home is the only federal retirement home of its kind. It consists of two campuses in Washington, D.C. and Gulfport. To be eligible, veterans must have spent more than half of their time in the service as an enlisted member, warrant officer, or limited-duty officer, among other criteria.

Its operations are financed by resident fees, deductions from the pay of currently serving enlisted troops, warrant officers and limited duty officers, fines and forfeitures from military personnel who have disciplinary violations, investment interest income on the trust fund, gifts and other sources.

Among other prescriptions, the GAO recommends that Congress require the Defense Department increase the monthly 50-cent deduction taken from the paychecks of all serving enlisted personnel to fund the homes.

The recommendations come as the retirement homes struggle to increase revenue on their own. In October, AFRH officials scrapped a plan that was designed to bring in more income.

That plan sought to partner with the private sector to develop AFRH’s Washington-based property to generate millions of dollars in income from underused grounds and facilities.

But the project faced tough economic conditions between rising interest rates, inflation, supply chain challenges, and a struggling office market in D.C., officials said.

“It was clear that the financial benefit to the Home was now significantly diminished and the terms of the long-term lease were riskier to AFRH,” John RisCassi, the Home’s Chief Operating Officer, said in an October statement.

AFRH remains open to future collaboration, officials said.