The Veterans Community Project looked at Longmont in 2019 as the first expansion of its concept in Kansas City where it built a village of tiny homes to house veterans. The process has been slow, but it is now only a few weeks away from housing the first veterans within the village itself.
The Veterans Community Project opened an office in Longmont soon after committing to building a village in Longmont. Through that office, the nonprofit has housed more than 75 veterans and their families throughout the area.
After several years it is finally able to open four of its 26 tiny homes to veterans.
The veterans are interviewed and selected by Veterans Community Project staff based on a set of criteria. The veterans have to be willing to work toward self-sustainability while they live in the village.
“There are very few disqualifiers,” said Melissa Gruber, director of development at VCP.
While residents of the village, the veterans are provided with all the housing essentials they need from dishware to furniture to quilts sewn by Longmont Quilt Guild’s Bee Sew Brave.
When the veterans are ready to move into homes of their own, they are able to take all the belongings with them and the tiny homes are re-furnished for the next veteran.
Community member were able to tour the community center and the tiny homes during an open house on Thursday. Members of the Longmont Quilt Guild were some of the first to see where their new quilts would be placed.
Some last minute construction items were being checked off the list as the tour commenced but furshings were stacked in the community center waiting for the approval to move it in. VCP is waiting on city of Longmont inspections to be conducted and a few last minute details and it will move in the first four veterans to their new homes.
In early August, VCP announced that it had discovered a financial gap that would prevent them from finishing the construction of the remaining 22 homes. The gap was caused by increased material costs which unexpectedly grew to 40% for various materials since 2020.
“While people can provide us some discounts when they are struggling financially too, we’re having to pay the market rate for a lot of things,” said Jennifer Seybold, executive director of Longmont VCP.
The next four tiny homes are scheduled to be ready by the end of September, however, the nonprofit is struggling to close the $150,000 gap for the month in order to make that happen.
“VCP believes that Veterans deserve more than just a roof over their heads; they deserve a community that understands their experiences and offers a hand-up. The organization’s efforts have already transformed the lives of hundreds of Veterans through the VCP Outreach Center, and the completion of VCP Village will be another significant step toward eradicating Veteran homelessness,” Seybold said.
Those interested in donating can click here. Should anyone wish to make a larger donation VCP asks that you reach out to Melissa Gruber, director of development via email at [email protected] or via phone at 719-339-2748.
