Be Neighbors Affordable Housing For Veterans, Inc. is committed to addressing our nation’s veterans’ affordable housing needs. The organization is dedicated to providing permanent and transitional housing for veterans and is committed to assisting those veterans who are not homeless with safe and affordable rental housing.

MISSION

Our mission is to provide permanent supportive housing for our
nation’s veterans. We operate with low overhead and pass the savings to our renters, who we regard as valued customers. We pledge to hold ourselves accountable for all aspects of this endeavor and to treat our customers with the utmost respect and courtesy.

Introduction

Be Neighbors Affordable Housing For Veterans, Inc. is committed to addressing the need for affordable housing among our nation’s veterans. The organization is not only dedicated to providing permanent `and transitional housing for veterans, it is also committed to assisting those veterans that are not homeless with safe and affordable rental housing.

The Organization is an Illinois nonprofit corporation designated with 501( c)3 Tax Exempt status from the U.S. Department of Internal Revenue was founded in 2020 to develop affordable Veterans’ housing throughout the State of Illinois.

The Organization’s inaugural project located in Springfield, Illinois is called “Be Neighbors Veterans Community” (also referred to as “the Community”). Organization management will act as the facilitator and decision makers in the planning and implementation of this
10 pilot development. In addition, they will act as a liaison between the Community, investors, local stakeholders and local, state and federal government agencies. The Organization has plans to extend this business model throughout the United States in opportunistic states. The Community will cost approximately $4,101,584.00 and will create five (5) permanent jobs in year one and roughly thirty (30) temporary jobs during construction.

The Community involves the purchase of approximately One and a half (1.43) unimproved farmland acres to develop an affordable supportive housing for veterans community consisting of eighteen (18) small homes and a state of the art Learning, Technology & Resource Center (“LTR Center”). The small house movement has been growing steadily over the last few decades.

“The financial crisis of 2007–08 fueled the growth of the small house movement. In several cities, an entrenched homeless population formed around “tent cities” or encampments that became semi-permanent housing. Homelessness in these communities was driven by foreclosures and expensive mortgages from the United States housing bubble. Small houses became an affordable option for individuals that lost their homes. With their low cost and relative ease of construction, tiny houses are being adopted as shelters for the homeless in Eugene, OR; Olympia, WA; Ithaca, NY; and other cities. Communities of tiny houses offer residents a transition towards self-sufficiency. Housing the homeless is said to be a cost-saving for municipalities. The long-term viability of small houses for homeless people is completely dependent on the structure and sustainability of the model. Strict zoning and land ownership laws make it difficult for this movement to take root. Benefits of access to housing include privacy, storage, safety, restoration of dignity and stability.”