HARRISBURG, Pa. — After a year of construction, a new tiny home community is set to open up and provide housing for our nation's heroes.
“We need to be there, [be] that helping hand to guide [veterans] and give them the dignity they deserve," said Tom Zimmerman, the co-founder of Veterans Outreach of Pennsylvania.
On Tuesday, Veterans Outreach of Pennsylvania, a Harrisburg-based nonprofit, offered a tour of its brand-new Veteran's Grove in Harrisburg. The village features 15 fully-furnished tiny homes, which will provide temporary housing for homeless veterans.
Tom Zimmerman said it's been a years-long project to help former servicemembers in need.
“We’re now working together to help those who need our help and were willing to sacrifice their life for our freedom, and we deserve to make it better for them," said Zimmerman.
The tiny home community will also feature a 6,500-square-foot community center, which will offer therapeutic programs for the veterans. Clinical directors said they will offer mental health and substance abuse services, as well as financial and technology literacy programs.
The aim is to have the veterans work as a community to get back on their feet.
“Pulling them out of that isolation and putting them into that group of veterans, who have gone through the same thing, is a really powerful way to have them forge connections with each other and have those meaningful experiences that will help them be successful when they leave," said Angel McLaughlin, the clinical director for Veterans Outreach of Pennsylvania.
By offering vets a home, officials hope to give them a path toward healing.
"To bring them home at last would be a tremendous gift that the public can give, and we owe it to our veterans," said Bill Habacivch, the executive director of Veterans Outreach of Pennsylvania.
Veterans Outreach of Pennsylvania will welcome its first veterans to the tiny home community by June 10.