A long-delayed plan to develop “tiny homes” for homeless veterans and their families on Milwaukee’s northwest side is taking another big step forward.
The Plan Commission is endorsing zoning approval for the development, which Kansas City-based Veterans Community Project Inc. plans to build on a 7-acre site at 6767 N. 60th St.
The development would have 40 homes, ranging from 240 to 340 square feet, provided rent-free. Each home would include a kitchen, bathroom and sleeping areas, with eight homes set aside for families.
A village center would provide social activities as well as case management services, education, and health and wellness programming. The goal is to help residents become stable and find jobs and new housing.
The homes’ designs take into account post-traumatic stress disorder’s effects, and provide veterans “a sense of privacy, security and the opportunity to reintegrate into society at a comfortable pace,” according to the proposal.
“Housing with dignity is very, very important to us,” Ben Hendershot, Veterans Community Project’s vice president of national expansion, told Plan Commission members.