A national organization that helps homeless veterans broke ground Thursday on a housing community in Sioux Falls.
Veterans Community Project is based out of Kansas City and builds tiny housing projects around the country. The Sioux Falls community will feature 25 homes and a community center to provide support services.
At the groundbreaking event, Veterans Community Project CEO and co-founder Brian Meyer said the organization’s goal is to solve the issues behind veteran homelessness, not just the problem itself.
“We want to truly address veteran homelessness, not simply just put a roof over somebody’s head,” Meyer said. “That’s great. That’s not the long-term fix.”
The support services from the community center will help people living in the community work towards independence and attain permanent housing, Meyer said. The services will include education and training with a focus on wellbeing and financial understanding.
The Sioux Falls project is located on a plot of land on North Willow Avenue, near the Denny Sanford Premiere Center and Terrace Park. Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken said the location was chosen due to the stigma people feel towards low-income housing and similar projects.
“One of the problems we have with housing right now is the attitude of ‘not in my backyard,’” TenHaken said. “Affordable housing, accessible housing, workforce housing. Everybody wants it, but nobody wants it near them, and we struggle with this.”
Although TenHaken noted the potential pushback, he said the people living near the community’s planned location are supportive of the project and its purpose.
The organization aims to finish construction of the community by the end of this year.