After a year's delay, tiny homes for St. Louis-area homeless veterans to open next month

Twenty tiny homes built for homeless veterans are set to open in the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood in the next 30 days.

“It feels very surreal but exciting, and we’re anxious to get there,” said Rebecca Tallman, executive director of the Veterans Community Project of St. Louis.

Originally scheduled to open last summer, a yearlong delay in getting an essential electrical box for the organization’s on-site outreach center set back the entire project’s construction. The newly built center, designed to help veterans transition to permanent housing, opened just three weeks ago for staff.

With the construction lag now behind the group, Tallman said she’s hopeful 10 single units and 10 family units will be fully furnished soon. At first, the group will start off housing five veterans.

“The staff has been very ready,” she said.

The St. Louis campus’ opening follows the organization’s housing its first veterans in Longmont, Colorado, last week and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, later this week.