Breaking Ground on Homeless Veterans Housing in St. Cloud

After five years of planning and hard work, the groundbreaking event for Al Loehr Veterans and Community Studio Apartments took place on Memorial Day in St. Cloud.

The event was a true celebration of the successful collaboration of many individuals and organizations that saw the need and promoted the project.

Al Loehr is a former Mayor of St. Cloud and a World War II Veteran. He also served as commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Veteran’s Affairs and commander of VFW Post 4847.

The funding for the $6 million project was approved by the Minnesota Legislature with strong advocacy by Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans, local Salvation Army representatives, the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless, and many other advocacy groups. The funding is administered by the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency.

The St Cloud HRA has worked hard to develop the concept and navigate the complicated technical aspects of making it happen. The facility will be located on St. Cloud VAMC grounds and be managed by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of St. Cloud.

Speakers at the groundbreaking included representatives from Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans, Catholic Charities, St. Cloud HRA, St. Cloud VAMC, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, and Senator Coleman’s Office. The speakers’ main theme was collaboration–good collaboration has gotten us this far and more will be needed to make the project successful over time.

The permanent housing is targeted to homeless or nearly homeless veterans and non-veteran community members at 30 to 50 percent of median income. Monthly rents range from $278 to $378. At least half of the residents must be veterans.

While there is no designated service budget for the project, it is predicted that a number of applicants would benefit from services. Work is being done to develop ongoing project related commitments from local service providers, including the St Cloud Hospital, Salvation Army, Central Minnesota Mental Health Center, St. Cloud VAMC, MACV, Housing Coalition of St. Cloud Area, Stearns County Human Services and Community Corrections and Catholic Charities programs to provide services to prospective residents who might otherwise be denied based on criminal and rental histories.

As ongoing operator of the resource, Catholic Charities will play a significant role in ensuring that the vision of safe, affordable chemically free housing will become real housing of choice for those who share that vision for themselves.

This article was written by Rick Podvin; Rick works with Catholic Charities Domus Transitional Housing and is a Coalition board member.