CHELSEA (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- 21 of Maine’s homeless veterans will now have their own homes, thanks to a special housing project that officially opened Friday.
Cabin in the Woods is a new housing project specifically for homeless veterans, built on the grounds of the Togus VA hospital. On Friday, they celebrated the grand opening.
The project is owned by Volunteers For America, which spent years working out the details and financing to get it built. They also needed to negotiate an agreement with the VA to lease a small portion of the 500-acre Togus campus in order to construct the small houses. All are located within walking distance of the medical facilities and services located at Togus.
All the houses are for veterans who were homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, including Army veteran Toni Owen. She has to use a wheelchair and said she was facing eviction from a small apartment in Poland because the building was being sold. Cabin in the Woods, said Owen, prevented her becoming homeless.
“It's amazing that you served and they’re doing so many amazing things for people,” Owen said while sitting on the porch of her brand new, one bedroom home.
Residents are selected by Volunteers For America, and pay an affordable rent, based on their income. Programs through Maine Housing, HUD and the VA support that. The veterans say having secure housing is already making a difference in their lives. Mike Merrill, who manages the project for VOA, says that is their goal. Merrill is a veteran of the Marine Corps and currently serves with the Maine National Guard. He is also a minister.
“I'm very passionate about this,” Merrill said, “because I see my brothers and sisters out there not having a place to call home. I see my brothers and sisters thinking, for some of them, taking their life is the only way to end that pain because they don’t have that food, that shelter, that safety and security. To see them being taken care of makes my heart happy.”
There are currently 19 veterans living in the houses, with the remaining two scheduled to fill up soon.
During the Friday ceremony, Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R-Maine CD 2) suggested go VA officials they should start planning to build more houses.
“The words homeless and veterans should not need to be used together,” said Merrill.