New housing for veterans experiencing homelessness comes to Rochester
ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – The Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans (MACV) recently purchased an apartment complex in Rochester that will be used to house veterans experiencing homelessness.
The 8-unit apartment complex is called Ultima and is located near North Broadway Avenue in northeast Rochester. MACV said the purchase was made possible from Veteran Supportive Housing Opportunities (VSHO) funding from the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs. This complex is MACV’s first of its kind in Rochester.
Most of the units are two-bedroom, one-bathroom and are currently being renovated.
“Ultima means I finally made it,” MACV Southern Regional Director Sadie Rezac said. “This is positive, this they’ve reached. They still have room to grow, but they reached that point where, like, I’ve made it, I’m here.”
According to MACV, the veterans, who will be housed, have past convictions, evictions or bad credit. She said those factors usually make it difficult for veterans to qualify for apartments. The apartments cost around $1,000 per month and the tenant will be responsible for paying it, but most have subsidies to help, like Section-8.
“The purpose of getting this property is to house the hardest to house veterans, so that we can get them off the streets, off the registry, and into a place that they can call home and also have supportive services behind it,” Rezac said. “Rochester has one of the highest concentrations of veterans in southern Minnesota.”
Rezac said MACV provides case management services to make sure the veteran can thrive.
“Sometimes, when you have someone with the barriers we work with and you put them in traditional housing, they struggle because they don’t have someone directing them along the way,” she said.
MACV partners with several different local organizations to help veterans get connected to resources.
“We’ve been working with The Landing, I am there on a pretty regular basis, reaching out to our veterans,” MACV Residential Housing and Services Coordinator Heather Harrington said. “We work with the Echo Center. We are working with the Olmsted County Housing Stability team. they are very aware of us.”
Rezac said a Vietnam veteran, whose experienced homelessness for the last 24 years, moved into one of the units May 1. She said he’s been living in his van and panhandling, consistently rejected by traditional landlords.
“He’s been a priority for a while,” she said. “He is a prime example of why we created this housing in Rochester. He made a mistake many years ago. This is a huge success for organization. This is the ultima for him. In his eyes, he probably thought this would never come to fruition in his life. After the struggles, and the barriers he’s tried to overcome. They still have room to grow. This is positive, but they reached that point where I’ve made it.”
Harrington added MACV is looking for donations like furniture and other items for tenants in the apartments.
Rezac said she hopes the renovations on apartments will be complete by the end of summer.