The Hinesville Housing Authority plans to show off one of the units in its Veterans Hand-N-Hand Project Monday and is asking for donations to make it ready.
“The Hinesville Housing Authority is very excited about the veteran housing project,” HHA CEO Melanie Thompson said. “We have developed a program that will help veterans transition from subsidized to permanent placement with no barriers for the veterans, which will ultimately provide stability.”
Unlike other programs, this one will walk veterans through the process of self-sufficiency without interruptions in service. The full continuum of housing care will allow homeless veterans to be temporarily placed in housing units, receive services from the Veterans Administration, work part-time for the authority, complete development training and be placed in subsidized housing.
“Usually the veterans we see did not retire from the military or get VA benefits so they find themselves without resources to get access to safe, quality housing,” Thompson said.
The authority received help from organizations such as Changing Homelessness from Jacksonville and the Liberty Regional Homeless Coalition to start Hand-N-Hand.
A visit Monday is for potential partners. Authority staff are preparing to furnish a model unit using donations. They have already received items from the Vietnam Veterans of American Liberty Chapter 789, Disabled American Veterans and community members.
“We are getting some great donations already,” Thompson said. “We want to say ‘thank you’ to the community and ask that they continue to support this cause so we can have a model unit ready to show for the site visit as well as furnish homes for these veterans to come into without having to worry about a thing.”
For more information on the program and to make a donation, email melanie_thompson@hinesvillehousing.org.
