KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Housing and Community Development Department highlighted its commitment to veterans by showcasing a new transitional living home during a recent bus tour of community development projects funded through its Community Development Block Grant.
The tour included a stop at the future Heroes Home Gate veteran home site, located on 35th and Euclid in the Ivanhoe neighborhood.
"It's special and unique for me because I'm also a veteran," Dion Lewis, deputy director of the Housing & Community Development Department, said. "So, I look forward to seeing the outcome, the output, and the impact that it's going to have on the veterans in our community."
The initiative began as a concept in 2020 and has since evolved into a three-level facility featuring a dozen bedrooms and bathrooms, with a dedicated wing for women.
“The space is really designed with that thought in mind, all around recovery," Nailah M’Biti, Footprints representative, said. "How are the veterans supported, so that they feel like they are at home, not a facility at home, but they have all the amenities that you would find out in the public?”
The home will also have valuable amenities, including a recreational room, media room, theater, yoga room, library, and spaces for supportive service staff.
Joel Bailey is the executive director of Heroes Home Gate.
"The veterans will be able to experience transitional living in a way they've never experienced before," Bailey said. "We have a storm shelter in here, which is huge and very important."
The project cost $7.6 million and is expected to open in September.
"It's not just seeing the dollar amount; it's seeing what came into fruition," Lewis said.
The Housing & Community Development Department will be holding another set of tours July 18.
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