Tiny homes village for veterans in Wisconsin gains big attention

RACINE, Wis. — It’s a tiny village for veterans.

And the calls have been pouring in from everywhere to the group that built the tiny homes.

Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin just finished the village of 15 tiny homes meant for homeless vets in the fall. Nearly all of them are occupied, and other communities want to know how to do the same thing.

“We’ve had people from all over the U.S. contact us and say, ‘How did you do it? What did you do? Where do we start? Who do we talk to?'” Steffanie Timm, with Veterans Outreach, said.

Nearly one in 10 of those who are homeless in the U.S. are military veterans.

Each home cost just a few thousand dollars to build with donations of labor and materials. Almost all of the funding for the village comes from private sources.

The homes are meant more as transitional housing and providing access to a lot of services to get their lives put back together, Timm said.

“Not just, kind of, work, work, work, find a job, make a resume, this and this and this,” Timm said. “We want to get them some stuff for wellbeing, too. It’s a growth process. Not just a roof.”

Timm added the homes are also peace of mind and security for each vet.

“He doesn’t have to worry about anybody stealing anything or making sure everything is locked out,” Timm explained. “He can lock his door. Leave. And come back.

“He has a warm bed. He can turn the heat on or he can turn the heat off. All of these options are available to him.”