Knoxville's Community Development Center has officially broken ground for Liberty Place, a supportive housing development for veterans, featuring 32 new units.
KCDC, Rep. Tim Burchett, Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon and Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs spoke about supportive housing. They were joined by another special guest: an eagle from the American Eagle Foundation.
The development, Liberty Place, will be located at 3627 Division Street in West Knoxville.
The housing is KCDC’s first housing site specifically for veterans and will provide one-bedroom units to veterans who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless.
“Liberty Place will provide essential housing for veterans who need assistance to stabilize their life and living accommodations,” KCDC Executive Director and CEO Ben Bentley said. “It’s important that these residents also have the resources to maintain that stability. We’re committed to not only providing a safe, quality home, but also a place that can provide supportive services.”
Community leaders said it's great to give back to those who gave back to our country.
"Our veterans are people that have fought for our freedom and we would not be here without them. So to invest in our veterans is just so important," said Tiffany Higginbotham, a healthcare specialist for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Liberty Place residents will be participants in the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing voucher program, which is a joint effort between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs to move veterans and their families out of homelessness and into permanent housing.
"The veteran would pay 30% of their income toward the rent, but anything that they're not able to pay above that would be funded through the federal voucher,' said Bentley.
The VA will have offices onsite for residents to get help with the coordination of medical services and community resources.
"Our veterans served and sacrificed for our country, and we need to take care of them in return,” Burchett said. “Liberty Place provides a roof over the heads of veterans in need and brings them some much-needed services. I'm proud to support their efforts, and I look forward to coming to the official opening of Liberty Place to personally thank our veterans."
Those who served in the military know firsthand how veterans could end up in these situations and why it's important to have housing like this for homeless and at-risk veterans.
"The time spent going into the military, getting ready to go into the military, is a whole lot more than coming out. So a lot of people struggle when they leave," said Robert Campbell, the VA's chief mental health officer for Kentucky and Tennessee.