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New coffee shop planned at tiny home village for veterans

The Journal Times - 11/27/2020

Nov. 27--Dee Hölzel

RACINE -- Coffee and pastry? Yes, please. And if it helps previously homeless veterans on their journey to a stable life, even better.

The proposed Ten-Hut Café is in the works at Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin, where it will be just one program among many helping to get previously homeless veterans back up on their feet.

Stephanie Hartleben, director of program services at Veterans Outreach, explained the Ten-Hut Café will be entirely run and managed by the veterans who will receive a stipend for working there.

"We will be selling sweet treats and delights that our residents make along with Black Rifle Coffee and various coffee concoctions and lattes," Hartleben said.

The project is in the construction phase and doesn't yet have a date for when it may be open to the public at the 1624 Yout St. compound where the Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin's headquarters and tiny homes village is located.

History

Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin is a nonprofit that opened in 2013 to aid veterans. Initially, the program consisted of a pantry to provide food, which now assists nearly 600 veterans and their families.

In 2017, the organization opened the James A. Peterson Veteran Village to give homeless veterans a place to live and to provide services until they are in a position to maintain permanent housing, a job and life in the civilian world.

Locally known as the Tiny Homes Village, the compounded is home to 15 veterans on a journey from homelessness to stabilization.

The tiny homes are neither shelters nor halfway houses.

"We are a homeless recovery program," Hartleben said. "We work with (the residents) for two years, or longer if needed, to break the cycle of homelessness and give them financial stability, all those tools they need to remain permanently housed when they leave here."

The program is all-encompassing, tailored for the needs of the individual resident so each person's experience is a bit different.

Residents often lack resources

Most of the residents in the village are 33 to 52 years old. "However, we have seen younger veterans and older," Hartleben said. "It just depends on where they are at in their homeless journey."

Hartleben said they do not tend to see very many combat veterans, who have resources through the Department of Veterans Affairs, but it does happen sometimes that combat veterans become residents of the village. Currently, there is a combat veteran living in the village who is still serving in the National Guard.

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But the majority of the residents tend to be peacetime veterans and former members of the National Guard or reservists, who have fewer resources available to them.

Hartleben said the VA has a system for determining who gets what benefits and to what extent.

"If you don't fall within that category, trying to get any kind of benefit is very difficult for veterans," Hartleben said, "and that's why most of them do give up if they're struggling with something, if they need something."

She added: "Sometimes the VA isn't the best avenue for a veteran."

Hartleben said it is better to have a conversation with the individual to help determine what their need is in order to find an appropriate resource within their own community. At Veterans Outreach, they serve veterans without making distinctions.

Life in the village

Each resident has responsibilities and one of those responsibilities includes cooking dinner for everyone twice a month.

They also are responsible for upkeep on the grounds, which has a lawn, landscaping, and gardens so the residents can grow their own food.

The residents are also required to serve ten hours of community service in the community

"We try to give back to the community that gives to us," Hartleben said. "I wish each state had (tiny home) villages, at least three or four."

Tiny homes

Of course, the first step in the process is to give the person someplace to live during the process of recovery.

Each of the 15 tiny homes in the village was donated along with the furniture and amenities. Inside the home there is room for a bed, an easy chair or small sofa, depending on space allowances, a television, DVD player, a fridge, microwave and a coffee pot.

There is no plumbing to the homes. The bathrooms, laundry rooms and kitchen are in the main building.

Hartleben explained there were two benefits to this arrangement.

The first benefit is it is a cost savings. It would have been expensive to add plumbing to each of the tiny homes, driving up the cost of the project.

The second benefit is it prevents residents from self-isolating.The Tiny Homes Village is community- and grant-funded. The Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin is an Amazon Smile nonprofit. Additionally, those who would like to assist the village will find a link on their website to their Amazon wish list.

How to donate to Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin

To mail a donation, checks should be payable to Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin, 1624 Yout St., Racine, WI 53404

To donate online, go to vetsoutreachwi.us/supportus

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