Veterans Community Project opens Village Center, bringing service alongside housing

While the Village Center at the Veterans Community Project in Sioux Falls has offices for six staff members, it was designed with its residents in mind.

The building, about 5,000 square feet in size, has both a dog wash and a bike-repair shop.

“A lot of our people have dogs; not many have cars,” said John Holter, executive director. “We have a place they can fix their bikes when they need it.”

As of Nov. 1, four veterans live in the tiny houses that have been built at the Veterans Community Project site on North Willow Avenue. One has been with the program since September; the others moved in more recently. One veteran chose to leave last week.

Holter said one veteran will move in this week, and several other veterans are being interviewed for the program.

The Veterans Community Project provides not just a small, fully furnished home for program participants but also wraparound case management that includes addressing the issues that caused the veteran to become homeless.

Based on a similar village in Kansas City, it typically takes 12 to 18 months to graduate from the program into more permanent housing.

Veterans Community Project staff find potential residents through various veterans’ service organizations and ask for good candidates. All candidates have three things in common: They are veterans, they are homeless or about to be, and they are willing to work on the issues that brought them to that point.

“We start with how do we solve those issues, and when they finish all those steps, they can go back on their feet, function in society and keep housed,” Holter said.

“The residents that we take in work the program or work on the things that got them homeless,” Holter said. “We provide rent-free housing and get you in a position you can live on your own. The newest one moved in a month or so ago.”

Now, the veterans have the Village Center to expand their activities. In addition to staff offices, there are flex offices for community partners to use, a washer and dryer, a copier room, a kitchen and fellowship hall with televisions and furniture, an outdoor patio, mailroom, boardroom and classroom.

The Village Center was built through an in-kind donation from David H. and Christine Billion, whose construction company built it. The in-kind contribution is one of the biggest donations to a Veterans Community Project site in the organization’s history.

Having the Village Center means the Veterans Community Project “levels up,” Holter said.

“We were working out of a construction trailer to provide professional services; now, we have a professional setting,” he said. “The neighbors have been coming over on many occasions and told us how they appreciate us.”

Eventually, the Veterans Community Project site will have 25 residences. Five more will be occupiable in the next two or three weeks, Holter said. Five homes that were built by students at Harrisburg High School have been placed on pads and will be completed through volunteer hours over the week.

When the houses have been completed, a small building will be constructed to hold snowblowers, lawnmowers and tools and to serve a place to receive gift donations. It will be styled like a four-door garage with a couple of offices and storage space.

The Veterans Community Project is the result of hundreds of volunteers contributing thousands of hours, Holter said.