Pennsylvania Unit 998 is actively donating funds and providing support to the Veterans Outreach of Pennsylvania (VOPA) and their mission to combat homelessness among veterans. The organization provides support and services needed to promote an empowered life filled with strength and purpose.
 
According to the VOPA website, the nonprofit organization has built a village of 15 tiny homes in south Harrisburg for veterans experiencing homelessness. The Veterans Grove community is specifically designed to meet the unique needs of each veteran through a therapeutic community model that builds camaraderie, personal responsibility, and healing, while recreating the stable support network offered to them before they left the service. A separate 6,500-square-foot community center anchors the village with a large kitchen, a dining room where the veteran participants are served daily meals in a group setting, laundry facilities, counseling and therapeutic rooms, and administrative offices.
 
Each of the 210-square-foot homes features a bedroom, full bathroom, countertop, closet, storage beneath the bed, microwave, small stove, coffeemaker, drawers, nightstand, and thermostat. The entire community is ADA compliant. Participants also receive a laptop and are taught basic computer skills.
 
According to VOPA, veterans do not own the homes, nor do they pay rent to live there. Instead, the homes are designed to be a temporary sanctuary until veterans are ready to return to independence. The tiny homes provide stability and a starting point for veterans to address the underlying causes of homelessness.
 
In a May 2024 interview with PennLive.com, VOPA Co-Founder Tom Zimmerman and Executive Director Bill Habacivch said the first five participants arrived around June 10, followed by the next five people about 60 days later, and five more residents about two months after that. The average stay at similar communities around the country is six to eight months, Zimmerman said.
 
2023-2024 Unit 998 President Kaitlyn Debow said their unit originally collaborated with their Legion Riders family to make monetary donations when the project was still in the beginning phases, and the support has continued over the last couple of years with donations from the entire American Legion Family. Debow shared their Auxiliary unit has donated about $3,500 to date, and that their Legion Family as a whole has donated more than $15,000. 
 
“It is very satisfying to know we have a program like this in our community,” said Debow. “Being that we are a veterans organization too, we now have a place that we have in mind if we come into a situation where someone needs help. We also have many people who want to volunteer and get involved. This ultimately is bringing our community together, and it feels great knowing we are doing something good for our community and the people who live in it.”
 
Debow said the Auxiliary unit’s 2024-2025 president has plans to partner with VOPA on upcoming fundraising activities, and the local Legion Family will continue to help in any way they are able.
More information on the Veterans Outreach of Pennsylvania can be found on their website at www.veteransoutreachofpa.org.