A TINY home community is almost open and will offer fully furnished homes to families and individuals.
The Veterans Community Project is nearly ready to welcome its first guests to a new tiny home community in St. Louis, Missouri.
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There are 20 homes built for homeless veterans and their families, split into 10 single units and 10 family units, and no rent.
The single units measure 240 square feet, and the family units are 320 square feet and are designed for families of up to five.
The plan is to open 14 more homes by the end of the year.
Each home will be stocked with food and furnished, and everything in the units will belong to the veteran once they move in. This includes things like bedding, kitchenware, tables, and appliances like a fridge.
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Rebecca Tallman, executive director at the site, said she hopes to welcome the first five veterans into the transitional housing within the next 30 days, according to the local NPR affiliate.
It was originally scheduled to open last summer but was delayed due to issues with getting electricity installed.
Tallman is a veteran and said the transition back to civilian life was very difficult for her, inspiring her to help others.
“There's lots of services out there, but it can just be overwhelming to figure out which services are the right services,” she said.
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“Just knowing that there's individuals facing those barriers and those difficulties, we want to do everything we can to not have that be the case."
Staffers will work to get veterans into their own places within two years of their arrival.
At other Veterans Community Project sites across the country, the average stay is just over 13 months, and the organization has an 85 percent success rate in helping residents get into permanent housing.
TINY HOME, BIG HEART
Veterans Community Project opened its flagship campus in Kansas City, Missouri, and has 49 tiny houses ranging from 240 to 320 square feet.
It is the blueprint for the Saint Louis community, featuring many of the same amenities planned for the newer site.
There is a commissary that opens once a month for residents to shop for food, clothing, and other items, at no cost to themselves.
This village has been open since 2019, but the organization has already started construction on other projects in Longmont, Colorado, near Denver; Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Another tiny home community is quickly filling up, even with strict eligibility criteria.
Plus, see how one person converted a school bus into the tiny home of their dreams.
