How tiny homes can soon help Fayetteville's homeless veterans

Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify that Off-Road Outreach is a program under nonprofit ServiceSource.

Fayetteville’s homeless and at-risk veterans may soon find space to bridge the gap between the street and permanent housing.

The Fayetteville-based program, Off-Road Outreach, was gifted with three tiny homes after the owner of the Oasis of North Carolina Campground died in May.

The owner of the campground, former Carrboro mayor, Robert “Dr. Bob” Drakeford, was an Army veteran.

Drakeford’s family donated the homes to the local nonprofit founded by Stacey Buckner, because of its mission to help veterans, Buckner said.

“We are going to continue his legacy by renovating these and using them as transitional housing for our veterans,” Buckner said.

She began the program under nonprofit ServiceSource in 2015 to provide mobile showers, food and toiletries to Cumberland County’s homeless veterans through her specially equipped Jeep.

Buckner said Off-Road Outreach was looking into how affordable housing or bridge housing could benefit local veterans when the tiny structures were gifted to the organization.

Dubbed “The Big Tiny Project,” the Fayetteville Woodpeckers Foundation and Community Leaders Program announced last month that they donated $10,000 to cover the renovations of the three 290-square-foot structures.

Bucker said Lowe’s Home Improvement is providing the materials, while its employees will help next month with the renovations to make the homes compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and add hardwood floors, sturdier walls, insulation and furnishings.

There’s also support from the U.S. Veterans Corps, Wells Fargo, the All Veteran Group, Window World of Fayetteville and ServiceSource.

“We’re not asking the city for anything. We're not asking the county for anything,” Buckner said. “We just want to show that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.”

Buckner said she and others are working with the city to develop “a plan of action to make this a reality.”

The intent, Buckner said, is for the homes to be placed near the Veggies For Vets garden on ServiceSource’s property at Ames Street.

More: Veggies for Vets: Community garden serves homeless veterans

ServiceSource supports people with disabilities, their families and caregivers with services that include financial coaching, vocational training employment opportunities, deaf services, senior services and veteran services among others.

Buckner said the site for the tiny homes will be located is also a bus stop, has a food bank and clothing closet, and ServiceSource’s Warrior Bridge Program can provide support for employment training, case management services and navigating benefits.

Buckner said she describes the project as bridge housing, because the goal is for the tiny homes to be a place for veterans to live for 180 days once they are released from substance abuse or mental health recovery programs.

“If you take a veteran right off of the street and you put them into what they call the housing-first model, that really doesn’t work,” she said. “It can be overwhelming if you’re homeless and now you’re living on your own (where) you have real accountability and real responsibility. So, we want to kind of ease them into that."

Buckner said there will be eligibility and goal requirements for being part of The Big Tiny Project, with the end goal being to help the veterans find permanent housing and employment.

She said she thinks the initiative could serve as a blueprint model for affordable housing in Fayetteville.

“It's really what Fayetteville needs,” she said.

Buckner said that once plans are finalized with the city, she expects the tiny homes to be ready by February.

Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Tiny homes to house Fayetteville homeless veterans