A new supportive housing community for veterans recently opened in New Jersey using the Department of Veteran’s Affairs Enhanced Use Lease, where the VA uses vacant land on their property to develop housing for veterans. Valley Brook Village, located on the VA’s Lyons Campus, will provide 64 units of housing and case-manager based services for veterans experiencing and at-risk of homelessness. CSH provided a $2 million construction loan for the development of the project and is thrilled to see it come to fruition for the veterans of New Jersey.
“Today, we do much more than opening doors at new buildings,” said Undersecretary for Health Robert A. Petzel. “We give the veterans who walk through those doors a chance at a new beginning.”
Formerly homeless Veterans who are now residents of Valley Brook Village commented on the impact supportive housing has had on their lives in a short film about the new community. “Coming here is probably the best thing in my life,” veteran Bill Ehrie, who spent the prior two years at Lyons in transitional housing, said in the film. “They got me on the right course medically and psychologically.” “I’ve become a better man, I’ve become employed,” veteran Joe Malcolm said in the film.“My own place,” he marveled. “I haven’t had peace of mind in years.”
Details on Valley Brook Village, including the short film are available here.
Photos courtesy of ThinkShelly.