by Logan Gruber
operations@thenewsleaders.com
A new housing community will offer permanent, supportive housing for 35 single individuals and up to two families in a new building adjacent to the St. Cloud Veterans Administration Medical Center. The groundbreaking for this project will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 28 at building #8 (auditorium) on the VA campus, 4801 Veterans Drive, St. Cloud. The ceremony is open to the public.
The new housing project supports the VA’s goal of ending veteran homelessness. Veterans will have priority placement at the community and the goal is for 100 percent of the occupants to be veterans.
“We are very excited about this community,” said St. Cloud VA Director Barry Bahl. “The need we see today is for veterans about to be homeless or getting out of a chemical dependency program and this community can provide them a permanent housing opportunity.”
The target households for the community are homeless veterans and veterans at risk of homelessness. It will be available to single adults and be drug- and alcohol-free. It will offer on-site referral support for a broad spectrum of services, including job-search assistance and literacy- and computer-skills training, while providing veterans close proximity to health-care services. This approach will grant the resident veterans access to a wide variety of programs, specialties and disciplines in the community in which they live.
The housing community is a public-private partnership between the VA and the lead developer, Sand Cos. Inc. of Waite Park.