David Michael Miller
The proposal calls for 64 units of housing, with 54 reserved for veterans, at 1326 E. Washington Ave. Dryhootch Wisconsin would operate support services there.
Otis Winstead says one group of veterans has been particularly neglected when it comes to getting services: women.
Dryhootch Wisconsin, the peer-led veteran support organization that Winstead directs, hopes a new housing development on East Washington Avenue will help fill that gap.
Dryhootch is teaming up with Dane County and developer Gorman & Company for a proposed veteran housing and support service building, “Valor on Washington.”
“The most underserved veterans are the women veterans, so that is going to be our major focus,” Winstead says. “How can this facility serve women veterans and families?”
Dane County purchased the former Messner building, 1326 E. Washington Ave., for $1.4 million in 2015 to create a homeless day shelter. But another site, 615 E. Washington Ave., was eventually chosen for the day center, The Beacon, which opened last fall.
The county then solicited and received several proposals to develop an affordable housing project at the Messner site. The winning proposal by Dryhootch and Gorman calls for 64 units of housing including 54 that would be reserved for veterans making 60 percent or less of the area median income.
“Women Veterans: the Long Journey Home,” a study commissioned by the advocacy group Disabled American Veterans, found that women account for 20 percent of all new military recruits. Women make up 14.5 percent of the 1.4 million people on active duty and 18 percent of the 850,000 people in the reserves.
Despite this boom in women serving, the report found that programs serving veterans remain focused on men. It recommends creating peer support networks for women veterans to assist with readjustment problems, establishing child care services, and creating more opportunities for vocational rehabilitation, education and employment services, financial counseling and housing.
The report finds that women veterans have higher rates of homelessness than non-veteran women and housing support needs to be enhanced, particularly for women with dependent children.
“In 2013, there were 4,456 women veterans estimated in the annual point-in-time survey of the homeless representing 8 percent of homeless veterans in shelters on survey day,” the report states. “Women veterans are two to four times more likely to be homeless than non-veteran women.”
African American veterans are at a particularly high risk, the study found, with just under 30 percent of them experiencing homelessness.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 11 percent of women veterans are single parents, compared to 4 percent of men.
In Wisconsin, there are 360,000 veterans, including 113,000 in households with children, the VA reports.
Ted Matkom, president of Gorman’s Wisconsin market, says his company realized the extent of the need for family housing for veterans after opening a similar project in Arizona this year.
In Tempe, the company partnered with Save the Family Foundation to provide the onsite veteran services at a 50-unit housing project. Save the Family helps homeless families become permanently housed and self-sufficient.
Tina Lopez, Save the Family chief development officer, says the Arizona project filled up quickly with both veterans and non-veterans. There’s now a list of 100 people waiting for units.
Matkom says most available veteran housing is targeted to single adults. What is needed are two- and three-bedroom units for couples with children or single parents. Valor on Washington would be the largest development of its kind, he adds.
“It was really successful in Arizona. In terms of the lease up, it was exactly the demographic we were targeting,” Matkom says. “We think we will have the same result here.”
Winstead says Dryhootch has never been involved with any housing projects before. He sees it as an opportunity to do something big.
Dryhootch has two locations in Milwaukee, two in Illinois and one in Madison, at 2825 University Ave. The organization focuses on peer support and provides space for group sessions on such issues as PTSD, and mindfulness exercises like reiki, acupuncture and music therapy. The group has served 10,000 veterans in the past two years.
At Valor on Washington, Dryhootch would operate a coffee shop, daycare and have space to collaborate with other nonprofits. Also proposed are a workout facility, a mechanic shop, group support space and an arcade.
Since Dryhootch is peer led, how the space is used would be driven by the residents and veterans, Winstead notes.
“Veterans are a unique bunch, you are always going to find a wrench-turner somewhere or whatever you might need,” Winstead says. “It’s a cohesive community experience we share.”
Matkom says his company is impressed with Dryhootch. “People can go there and talk to other vets about getting into ordinary civilian life,” Matkom says.
Matkom says Gorman plans to finance the project with low-income tax credits from the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority, as well as a private loan, and funding from the city and county.
WHEDA tax credits require that the affordable rates be maintained for 30 years, but Matkom says the company is proposing a “99-year commitment” to the rates.
“That is something unique about this affordable housing development,” he adds.
Dryhootch will be raising money through various veterans’ organizations to cover its costs.
Now that the county approved the project a neighborhood meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on May 8 at Christ Presbyterian Church, 944 E. Gorham St., to get feedback. The developer has not yet submitted any proposals to the city.
The project site includes multiple parcels with different zonings and will require approval from the city’s Urban Design, Landmarks and Plan commissions, as well as the Finance Committee and Common Council. If everything goes as planned, construction would start in the spring of 2019.
