Kalamazoo County’s Public Housing Commission is holding a press conference this Friday. It’s announcing the opening of a house for homeless veterans.
The Keystone House on Stockbridge Avenue will serve veterans who are homeless, or who are in danger of becoming homeless. Talks about the project have been underway for three years. Renovation of the builging started earlier this month.
David Artley serves on the Kalamazoo Public Housing Commission. He says, "Everybody is entitled to safe, affordable, accessible housing."
Artley says Keystone House will have five or six bedrooms, a ramp for wheelchairs, and at least one bedroom that's accessible by disabled residents. Artley says Kalamazoo County has a duty to help homeless veterans.
"I think it’s our patriotic duty to be able to help those folks re-assimilate but we want homelessness to be a brief, rare, one-time experience."
Artley says a disproportionate number of homeless people in the county are veterans.
"If vets represent ten-percent of the population of the county, they represent 40-percent of the homeless population."
Keystone House is scheduled to open in January 2020.
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