One couldn’t blame a homeless veteran for feeling a little bit skeptical when offered a free roof over their heads after spending weeks, perhaps months, living on the streets.
But Bryan Meyer, CEO of Veterans Community Project, quickly puts veterans at ease when surprising them with their new home.
Is There a Catch?
“There’s no catch — this is what we owe you,” Meyer tells them.
Meyer and his organization provide tiny houses to veterans battling homelessness and addiction as part of the Veterans Community Project Village.
Meyer knows from experience that veterans often face challenges adjusting to civilian life. The former Marine was deployed to the Middle East more than once. Feeling lost and isolated after leaving the military, Meyer grappled with how to acclimate to the new world around him. Stuck in legal woes, he finally received help from a judge who suggested counseling.
Speaking to a crowd during the groundbreaking for a recently unveiled Veterans Community Project Village, Meyer said he was “lucky enough to run into a handful of other veterans who all felt the same way.”
Meyer thought there must be a better alternative than veterans living on the streets.
“We all said to ourselves, there’s got to be something a little bit better out there for veterans,” Meyer said.
How Are They Built?
Meyer’s organization constructs houses for veterans transitioning out of homelessness. The Veterans Community Project also offers on-site case management to help veterans with mental health problems, build resume skills to find work, and find stable housing.
“Homeless veterans are sleeping in our city streets and parks,” Meyer said. “They’re our neighbors, mothers, brothers, and sisters.”
Vinnie Morales, also involved with the Veterans Community Project as a co-owner, spent deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq. Morales said while the tiny home concept might seem strange to civilians, it’s not a huge deal to veterans used to living with bare essentials.
“From a war fighter perspective, specifically the global war on terror generation, if you had 240 square feet to yourself — with air conditioning and running water and all the amenities that our projects have — while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, you definitely were doing something right,” Morales said.
“For the global war on terror generation, these tiny houses are a second home.”
Tiny Home Communities Keep Growing
It’s estimated that more than 32,000 veterans are homeless, based on the latest numbers from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which means there’s plenty of opportunity for the Veterans Community Project to grow.
As of Nov. 12, there were six tiny home villages across the country. Meyer hopes his organization can build more in 2026 and beyond to serve veterans like “Chris,” who came to the project for help and turned his life around.
“Chris is an Iraq veteran. We’re around the same age, and he became completely street homeless, completely cut off from his family, no custody rights, anything like that,” Meyer said. “Eventually, he came to our village.”
Chris lived in a tiny house for a while, accepted counseling, and forged a bond with other veterans living in the community. Eventually, he got back on the right track.
“He went on to earn his college degree, and he’s now a manager in our construction business,” Meyer said. “He can see his kids again, and he even recently purchased a home of his own.”
Support for the Program
The Veterans Community Project receives funding from large corporations like Phillip Morris U.S. and several other non-profit groups with military ties.
While the financial support is key, homeless housing projects or encampments are sometimes met with “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) pushback from the local community. But Meyer says so far, all six locations have been met with open arms.
“Every single location has actively recruited us,” Meyer said.
One city that often sees NIMBY resistance is Madison, Wisconsin. However, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers is one of the program’s staunchest supporters. In October, work began on a new 40-unit village coming to Milwaukee.
“These tiny homes are more than a roof overhead and a safe place to sleep at night. They are a foundation that will help restore dignity, stability, and community for those who have sacrificed so much for all of us,” Evers said. “I have no doubt that our veterans will be in good hands once this tiny home village comes to life.”
So far, a vast majority of veterans who’ve completed the program have done well. The Veterans Community Project boasts an 85 percent success rate, according to its statistics.
