Alaska's First Private Veteran Housing Facility Opening Soon
May 23, 2014
The housing is a first-of-its-kind, offering quality housing and nearby community healthcare services. It is designed to help relieve housing wait lists for veterans and improve health services for an entire region. The brand new facility opens this summer with eleven 1- and 2-bedroom housing units for any veterans and their families.
Exterior May 22, 2014
“We have put so much work into designing these living spaces for our veterans, it is exciting to be at the point where we can start to meet the people who will live here,” says HAL President James Studley. “We’re proud to offer housing of this quality to those who have served our country.” The residence floor is almost complete, with veteran move-in expected to start in July. Each individual unit includes full kitchen, private bathroom, closets, fire sprinklers, an intercom to the building entrance and floor-to-ceiling windows with fjord and mountain views. The residence floor has a shared laundry room, elevator and stair access, large sunroom and outdoor sun deck. Each unit has a designated covered parking space and an outdoor storage closet. Of the 11 units, there are four 610 sq. ft. 1-bedroom apartments, three 775 sq. ft. 2-bedroom apartments and four 860 sq. ft. 2-bedroom apartments. Monthly rent ranges from $750 - $1050 depending on the apartment and includes utilities, snow removal and access to all resident benefits. The units are for veterans and their families interested in independent living. The project provides limited rental assistance to low-income veterans and veterans with disabilities. The 20,000 sq. ft. Veterans Village and Wellness Center has been under construction since Spring 2013 and is expected to be complete in 2015. The first floor will hold seven offices for healthcare organizations that serve Southeast Alaska and the second floor has 11 housing units for veterans. It is phase III of a $13 million project managed by HAL that includes a nearby assisted living facility and independent senior housing apartments in Haines. The health groups that helped design the new building and will occupy its the ground floor are Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) physical therapy, Southeast Alaska Independent Living (SAIL), Lynn Canal Counseling Services (LCCS), Hospice of Haines, Community and Veterans Organization (CAVO), Cornerstone Home Care and Haines Assisted Living, Inc. (HAL). The State of Alaska approved $6.1 million in 2012 for the construction of a building with high energy-efficiency standards and incorporating a management system that ensures self-sufficiency and sustainability with no recurring public subsidies. Rasmuson Foundation awarded nearly $500,000 to the project in 2013. HAL continues to raise the remainder of necessary funds through private donations, other grants and community fundraisers. The Soboleff-McRae Veterans Village and Wellness Center facility is named for Tlingit elder Dr. Walter Soboleff and CSM Howard McRae, a decorated military veteran from Haines. It is designed to provide permanent affordable housing and consolidated supportive health services to veterans, elders and the greater community. The building site is located one block from Haines’ Main Street, on Dalton Street and Second Avenue. Alaska has the highest military population per capita in the country, with State veteran housing at full occupancy with a wait list. Haines is a Southeast Alaska community with a population of 2,508 residents and an estimated 397 veterans. Haines has and is projected to continue to have a larger percentage of veterans among its residents than many other communities in the region and state. According to a Juneau Economic Development Council feasibility study, by 2025, the veteran population in Haines will have increased by 28% to 449 persons and 70% of its veterans will be 65 or older.
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