Sophia, Jon, & Jeremy: Housing Our Heroes — Building Homes and Hope for Veterans

Welcome to Unsheltered Conversations, HomeAid America’s podcast where we explore stories of homelessness, hope, and the change we can build together.This Veterans Day, we honor the men and women who served our country, and we shine a light on the work being done to ensure every veteran has a place to call home.On a single night in 2024, just under 33,000 veterans were experiencing homelessness in the United States, a number that’s down more than 55% since 2010, thanks to programs that combine compassion with construction.Today, we’ll explore a remarkable model in Minnesota: The Veterans Village and Housing for Heroes initiatives which have been innovative collaborations between HomeAid’s affiliate, the Housing First Minnesota Foundation, Lennar and the Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans, better known as MACV. These projects combine design, compassion, and service to ensure that no veteran is left without a home.Joining me today are: Sofia Humphries from Housing First Minnesota Foundation and as we refer to as HomeAid Minnesota, Jeremy Larson, a member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, and Jon Lovald, Chief Operations Officer with MACV.Together, we’ll talk about what these projects mean, the partnerships that made them possible including long-time industry partners like Lennar and the Lennar Foundation and how Minnesota’s success can help shape veteran housing nationwide.