Twice a year, Rotary meets outside of our usual luncheon. In June, it's because the church where we meet holds vacation bible school and we can't use the fellowship hall. I don't know if there is a corresponding reason in the fall, but we go out again as a complement to our other field trip. We visit businesses around town to gain increased familiarity with our community. Normally the summer trip is for-profit businesses and fall is non-profits. The location I chose for today was a non-profit, or at least I believed it was until I started typing this and realized I can't remember anyone making the distinction. (I'm pretty sure...) I'm not sure why they were grouped in this time, but I'm not complaining.
I think I've talked about the Veterans Community Project before, when they came to one of our meetings a couple years ago. A local home builder donated a few acres on a site they are developing, and a veteran-founded housing and care organization from Kansas City is using the space to expand how many people they can reach. They are addressing homelessness among veterans, providing assistance, counseling, and soon, a dedicated tiny home village. This site is slated to have 26 tiny houses, primarily single-person, 250 square foot units. There are a handful of family units going in with an additional 100 square feet, give or take. The project invited us in for lunch today, and we had a terrific discussion about the services they offer. One of the ways they really stand out is that they are stepping up to help all veterans, not only the ones who were honorably discharged. They won't necessarily short-list vets with unresolved problems for the resident program, but they will steer them in directions to work on their issues and support them as each situation allows.
More than anything, I wanted to tour one of the tiny homes. I'm a huge fan of this concept (like it's a recurring lottery fantasy of mine to be able to fund one of these programs outright), and I am so curious to stand inside and feel what it's like in these houses. They were designed by veterans who have direct understanding of the effects of PTSD, so they are cognizant of issues like line of sight, having no doors or windows at one's back, and sound dampening. They said these houses are very well-insulated, which will make them very quiet and restful. The bathrooms are designed in such a way that when the doors are open, there are no hidden spaces. And the windows don't line up between houses, so even though they are closely spaced, there is a sense of privacy.
Alas, we did not get to walk into one of the houses. It was raining cats and dogs throughout the middle of the day, and the area between the community center and model house was a mucky mess. They had not yet landscaped, so we didn't traipse through the mud to see a house. We saw the exteriors (painted in colors that represented each branch of the military, they said), and a photo of the interior of the model. They hope to move their first four veterans in by late summer. If they have a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony, maybe I can come by again then.
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