A group dedicated to helping veterans in need is expanding its footprint.
On May 9, the Veterans Community Project held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at their newest “VCP Village” in Sioux Falls, S.D. Aside from the original Kansas City location, the event was the organization’s first ribbon-cutting at a new site.
A Kansas City, Mo.-based group, whose mission is “to serve those who served us,” the nonprofit group assists former military members in several ways. Most notably, through their community of tiny homes, it gives homeless veterans a chance to get off the street and start the process of rebuilding.
The group’s Kansas City location features 49 tiny homes, ranging in size from 240 to 320 square feet. The homes are designed and built with the needs of veterans in mind.
“Many veterans arrive at VCP Village with little more than the pain, uncertainty and loneliness of life on the streets. The tiny house provides everything he or she needs to live with dignity and safety; new furniture, appliances, housewares, bedding, and utilities, free of charge,” the group said. “More importantly, the village provides sanctuary and the emotional space needed for the veteran and VCP’s veteran support services team to thoroughly address the underlying causes of his or her homelessness.”
In addition to the community of tiny homes, the group’s Kansas City site features the Veteran Outreach Center, which provides a host of services to assist vets:
- Help navigating their VA benefits.
- Identification services.
- Mental and physical health referrals.
- Financial counseling.
- Access to hygiene kits and a food pantry during the organization’s commissary day.
The program has a 60% success rate of transitioning veterans from being homeless into permanent housing, more than double the average of other housing programs. The group’s goal is to eventually have a community in each state.
That goal is inching toward reality. In addition to the Sioux Falls site, VCP has also broken ground on locations in St. Louis and Longmont, Co. Bryan Meyer, CEO and co-founder of the Veterans Community Project, applauded the community of Sioux Falls for embracing the group’s mission.
“It wasn’t the first one we broke ground on. It wasn’t even the second,” Meyer said during the ceremony. “But the way the community came together and wrapped their arms around it, put it on a trajectory that I don’t even think we were prepared for sometimes. And I mean that in the best way possible.”
While the ceremony marked the first of many milestones for the new location, there is still plenty of work to be done. Currently, there are five homes built at the new VCP Village. Once completed, the site is expected to have 25 tiny homes, along with a village center for residents to enjoy. Eric Cage, executive director of VCP-Sioux Falls, says they hope to move the first veterans in within the next couple of months.
“I don’t want to have our homeless people in our city out of sight anymore,” Gage said. “I want to serve them with this land and do all the things that we know need to happen to serve these people in a real way.”
For VCP, the support and donations they receive from the community is critical, as the group does not accept state or federal funding. Because of this, the group is free to help “anyone who rose their right hand to serve this country” rather than just those who meet state or federal criteria for veterans.
With its annual Truckers for Troops campaign, held the week of Veterans Day, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is one group supporting VCP’s mission. Now entering its 17th year, the annual event helps raise money for veteran organizations – as well as generate funds to send care packages to U.S. troops stationed overseas.
During the event, OOIDA members can renew – and others can join – at a discounted rate. A portion of the membership fees collected over the week is donated to the Truckers for Troop campaign, with the Association matching the final dollar amount.
In 2022, the Association’s members and Truckers for Troops raised $15,000 and a truckload of household supplies for VCP. Chris Admire, executive director of Veterans Community Project-Kansas City, says that the support from the Association helps the group achieve their goals.
“When the co-founders named this organization, community was a critical component of it,” Admire told Land Line. “It was going to be an ongoing project. That required partnerships not only for the first couple years when we were building the houses, but to stay when we’re delivering services, which is what we’re doing now in Kansas City. This is what OOIDA is helping us do, deliver the services. It’s pretty awesome to have this relationship.”
Since Truckers for Troops began in 2007, the annual fundraising drive has raised nearly $750,000 to assist veterans and veteran organizations. LL
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