RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. — A 100-unit permanent housing community, made for veterans who are unhoused or disabled, is providing veterans in Rancho Cordova a place to get help and other resources.
The community is called Mather Veterans Village. A ribbon cutting on Tuesday celebrated the finalization of the Sacramento region's first permanent supportive housing community for veterans. Sanford Robinson with Nation's Finest, an organization that provides services for veterans, said the housing community also has 47 units of transitional housing.
Some people like Army veteran Michael Harris moved to Mather Veterans Village right before the state shut down due to the pandemic. Harris served in the U.S. Army Reserve for a decade and found himself homeless in Sacramento after a tragic car accident.
“You can go around the world and make Democracy happen for other people in other places and then you come back here, and you are on the side of the road homeless,” said Michael Harris, an Army veteran.
“Life-changing experience to have to ask for help when you’re vulnerable, broke, and there was a place and Nation's Finest provided that place,” Harris added.
William Huneke served in the U.S. Army from 1985 to 1989 and moved to the village in February. Huneke said the camaraderie of being with other veterans has helped him in his recovery from alcoholism.
“Outside my front door, they just built a jungle gym and two little kids are here, and it’s nice to be able to see something other than what goes on in my head,” Huneke said.
“I would not be able to support myself, let alone take my medications,” Huneke added.
Hueneke said he has been able to receive everything he needs at the facility and finds peace in knowing that he now has a forever home.
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