At 1539 25th St. in North Sarasota, 10 veterans will now have a place to call home.

On Wednesday, April 30, a ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the official opening of Heroes’ Village — the first affordable housing complex in the city dedicated entirely to veterans. The national anthem, sung by Jazzmin Carson of Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, rang out before a crowd of roughly 80 people, including officials from Gulf Coast Community Foundation, St. Vincent de Paul Cares, veterans, donors and city leaders. It was a moment years in the making. (We wrote about the new project when it broke ground two years ago.) 

“This is going to be really impactful,” says Phillip Lanham, president and CEO of Gulf Coast Community Foundation. “Everyone living here will be a vet. They’ll be able to help each other out and form a community.”

Each of the 10 two-bedroom units is permanent housing, not transitional, and tenants will pay no more than 30 percent of their income on rent—the federal benchmark for affordability. Residents are eligible to rent indefinitely, with the goal being stability and independence. The first residents will move in in June.

St. Vincent de Paul Cares, which will manage the complex, will also offer wraparound services for residents, including mental health care, transportation to medical appointments and employment assistance.

The $3 million project was funded through a blend of philanthropy, city and federal grants. A $400,000 catalytic gift came from Peter and Elsa Soderberg and Skip and Gail Sack through their respective family foundations, and Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s Board of Directors contributing another $300,000 in directed grants. The City of Sarasota also partnered with the Office of Housing and Community Development to contribute $400,000 in public dollars. The city also donated the land.

Lanham acknowledges lessons learned during the first time project. “It takes longer than you think it will, it’ll be over budget and it takes lots of collaboration,” he says. “But the proverb applies here: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

As of last spring, Continuum of Care—a network of providers including Gulf Coast Community Foundation—had identified 82 veterans on a housing waitlist. St. Vincent de Paul Cares reported that 83 veterans enrolled in its Rapid Rehousing program in Sarasota County, and another 19 in a homelessness prevention program.

At the project's 2023 groundbreaking,  former county commissioner and Gulf Coast Community Foundation director of policy and advocacy, Jon Thaxton, emphasized the difficulty veterans face in the Sarasota rental market, even with income from Social Security or VA benefits. “We have a severe deficit in our housing supply targeting people who have low and very low incomes,” he said at the time. “This project is not only about preventing homelessness. It’s about providing housing with dignity. It’s not slapped-together, shabby construction.”

For Gulf Coast Community Foundation and its partners, Heroes’ Village may serve as a model. “We’ll learn a lot from it," Lanham says.

The ceremony may have marked the end of construction, but for Sarasota’s housing advocates, it’s far from the end of the road. As Thaxton said at the 2023 groundbreaking ceremony, “This project is a great contribution. But it’s not the solution. After celebrating, let’s roll our sleeves up and do more.”