ARCADIA, La. (KSLA) - An ArkLaTex nonprofit organization is working to improve the lives of veterans looking for a soft place to land.
Tiny homes in Arcadia will make a big impact for our nation’s heroes. These homes are more than a roof and four walls.
They sit on eight acres in north Louisiana, tucked away in the woods and surrounded by trees and flags. This will serve as a new home for healing for those who have served their country.
Sandra Jones says this space, started by Project 4 Hope, will combine independence and community in one place with homes that can accommodate single veterans and small families with access to resources to help them adjust to life after the military.
“I met our founder, Colonel Steve Lindsley, and he just he wanted to do something for veterans. So we kind of put our heads together, and we looked around at some different properties and things, and this property came up, and we just knew that it was. It was where God wanted us to be,” Jones said.
She says people were astonished at what they were able to do to make it livable for the veterans.
“It’s easier to have counselors and people come here. We have construction companies that want to teach construction. We have chefs that want to come and do cooking classes. So having everything in a local spot for them was very important,” Jones explained.
Northwest Louisiana has one of the highest veteran populations in the state, according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs.
Data from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development shows that tens of thousands of veterans not only experience homelessness after their service, but many also live with PTSD, substance abuse and lack of a support system or social network.
These factors make it harder for them to adjust to life after serving.
Jones says as a daughter of a veteran, she knows firsthand.
“My daddy was a veteran and served in Korea, and I can remember even as a kid, you know, some of the issues that he had and struggled with, but he never talked about it. Not to knock the military, but they do a very good job of training our men and women to serve our country,” Jones said. “There’s not a lot of training after they’ve been in for a while to have them come back to civilian life and it’s like, you know, coming to the United States from a foreign country, you know, we have different rules and regulations. You know, they’ve fought in several wars, most of them, and there’s trauma. There’s PTSD.”
Jones hopes that by bringing the resources to their doorstep, more veterans will be more comfortable getting the help they need.
“We are a non judgmental organization. We aren’t run by any government entity. We want to try to be different for them and be honest and forthwith of anything that we can offer them, and we want to make them feel at home. And you know, I we just, we love our veterans. We love what they’ve done for our country and we just want to serve them,” Jones said.