CHN Housing Network in Cleveland, Ohio, broke ground this month on a housing solution: The NeighborWorks network organization is building an affordable housing development devoted to veterans. Cleveland West Veterans Housing is scheduled to open next fall.
“We’ve done a lot of permanent supportive housing for the chronically homeless,” explained Kevin Nowalk, president and CEO of CHN. “Within that group, disproportionally, we see veterans.”
In Cuyahoga County alone, close to 500 veterans entered the homelessness system between Jan. 1, 2023 and Dec. 31, 2024. According to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s point-in-time count from last January, the number of veterans experiencing homelessness was 32,882.
“They’ve given so much to our communities,” Nowalk said. “So many of us, including me, have ties to veterans within our families, within our friends. We saw the impact in our housing for veterans and we wanted to dedicate a development for the veterans themselves.”
Veterans are already interspersed among the affordable apartment homes that CHN provides. “They often take on leadership roles, setting the culture in a positive way.”
But having a community where they can focus on their particular needs together will make even more of an impact. “It will allow us to bring the full force of the VA to create a housing development that is so much more than a housing development,” Nowalk said. “It will be a place where our veterans can get housing stability and really work toward thriving.”
In the last fiscal year, more than 80% of local NeighborWorks network organizations served veterans and/or active military in FY 2024. The network also assisted at least 1,003 veterans and/or active military families with purchasing or preserving their homes.
In the final quarter of fiscal year 2024, the NeighborWorks network owned or managed 17,270 affordable rental units in 314 properties directly targeted to veterans and/or active military, representing 8% of the total units in the network and 5% of properties. A total of 92 network organizations had at least one rental building specifically serving this population.
CHN’s new $21.6 million development will offer 62 one-bedroom apartment homes. The development is made possible through Low Income Housing Tax Credits. Supported by the Veterans Administration, Cleveland West will also provide services to other veterans living in the county.
“There is such a need for affordable, stable and safe housing for Veterans in Cuyahoga County,” said Jose Soto Vega, a veteran and Cleveland resident who spoke at the groundbreaking for the development earlier this month. “I have seen the real way the VA helps improve the lives of many people, including myself. I hope to live here one day.”
The development will be built on land in Cleveland’s Stockyards neighborhood, which CHN chose because of its location, near both public transit and a grocery store. Along with a community room, a community kitchen and an exercise room, the site will have a full-time VA social worker, case managers, a part-time occupational therapist and registered nurse and a full-time licensed practical nurse. Nowalk said residents will also have access to the VA’s Medical Mobile Unit.
The site received investments from a number of organizations including the county, Citizens Bank, the Home Depot Foundation and more. Enterprise Community Partners is the tax credit syndicator.
Nowalk said that since the groundbreaking put the project in the spotlight, people have reached out to offer additional support. The Elks, for instance, a fraternal organization, reached out to offer welcome kits for veterans who are moving into homes after experiencing homelessness. He said their program goes beyond Cuyahoga County and that other network organizations should consider such resources for veterans in their own housing. “There is a network of people supporting veterans,” he said.
