TRAVERSE CITY -- There are more than 600 homeless veterans in northern Michigan, but soon they will have a place to call home.
This year Goodwill is going to build the region's first Homeless Veteran's Transitional Housing Community, to meet a growing need.
Goodwill Street Outreach Provider and Veteran Rich Tomey says, "It’s a God sent, a miracle, who would of thought it, but were here...we are in the process of making it a reality."
Tomey works with homeless veterans everyday and knows that most need help moving from military to civilian life.
Tomey says, "There eyes light up and say oh god if I could get in there, I could...and the stories are endless, but mainly they can feel useful again, feel like a member of society instead of an outcast."
Goodwill's new Veterans Transitional Housing will work with the VA to house veterans. There will be four duplexes that will serve up to 24 veterans at once and the community will be strategically placed.
Director of Veterans Programs Pam Cuthbert says, "We choose Gaylord because of it's proximity to major freeways and the easy accessibility to the Gaylord community based Out Patient Clinic, there coming from 29 county areas in northern Michigan and Gaylord is centrally located."
Cuthbert says it also will be close to the major shopping center which will create convenient job opportunities.
The project will cost about $1.8 million dollars and funds will come from donations and grants. In fact Goodwill received Michigan's only 2010 Capital Grant from the Department of Veteran Affairs.
Tomey says this project is justification that he served a good, decent country.
Tomey says, "They're taking care of their own, and I’m so glad I’m in it, to be able to offer this to some of our veterans in one of the most beautiful, postage stamp spots in America, what a privilege."
Goodwill plans to release the exact location of the housing by the end of the month and they hope to break ground in April.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
-Goodwill’s new Veterans Transitional Housing Community help Veterans secure the following: All available benefits form the VA (Social Security/ Disability), Appropriate employment and job skills training, permanent housing.
-Funded by two grants totaling $949,273: Michigan’s only 2010 capital grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and a grant from the Federal Homeloan Bank of Cincinnati (sponsored locally by Huntington Bank) Community partners will raise the remainder of funds necessary to build this project.
-Many of the veterans will be from Northern Michigan’s larger communities near Grand Traverse, Emmet, Otsego and Alpena Counties—however the doors will be open to any homeless veteran.
-Homeless Veterans who want to live in the new transitional housing will have contact the VA out of Saginaw who will do screenings and then refer people to the Goodwill.
To learn more about the Goodwill’s Veterans Transitional Housing Community and how you can support other veterans you can contact Leah Bagdon McCallum at (231) 995-7719.
