On Monday morning, Calgary became the country's first city to open a Homes for Heroes Village, that will provide affordable housing for veterans in crisis.
The program was started by the Homes for Heroes Foundation in hopes of offering a "wrap-around program" to help provide a solution for an issue that affects nearly 5,000 Candian Armed Forces veterans.
“Our team at the Homes For Heroes Foundation has met with hundreds of veterans who are in crisis and experiencing homelessness,” said president and co-founder David Howard.
“We wanted to build a program that can help them with a successful transition to civilian life. Our veterans are proud warriors, proud of their service, and proud to be citizens of Canada. They want a hand-up, not a hand-out. We listened to what they had to say, and we designed our foundation around meeting their needs.”
The foundation works with Calgary social agency, The Mustard Seed, to accommodate sponsored and eligible veterans into the village where they will have the chance to benefit from a number of services.
Located in southeast Calgary, the village features 15 tiny homes, a resource centre, counselling office, a family suite and community gardens.
Each tiny home is 275 square feet and has all the amenities you’d hope to find, including a fully operational kitchen, living area, cable and internet.
Residents will have access to onsite programming such as peer-to-peer support and the opportunity to reintegrate into civilian life at a comfortable pace through mentoring, case management, counselling and more.
The foundation also hopes to build other villages across the country and is currently in talks with cities in BC, Manitoba, Ontario and the Maritime provinces. A second village in Edmonton is also said to be on the way.
