$8.4M apartment complex to house homeless veterans

by Jeff Barr | Kalamazoo Gazette

BATTLE CREEK — An $8.4 million apartment complex that will provide transitional housing for homeless veterans from Kalamazoo and Calhoun counties is expected to open in late summer, according to officials close to the project.

"We will begin moving in furniture in mid-August, and we expect to start moving the first veterans in on Sept. 1," said Mark Wester, president of Medallion Management Inc., a Kalamazoo-based company overseeing the complex.

Seventy-five fully furnished units, located on the campus of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Battle Creek, will be subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Veterans will pay 30 percent of their adjusted gross incomes for the transitional housing.

"If there is no income, rent is free," Wester said.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs provided funding for the project in January and construction began almost immediately.

"Michigan has over 3,000 men and women who have worn the uniform in defense of our country, but do not have a place to call home," said U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, who helped secure funding from the VA. "The Silver Star Apartment community … will help put a roof over (some of) their heads."

Don Jarzambek, director of veterans affairs for Kalamazoo County, estimates that there are 100 homeless veterans living in Kalamazoo County.

Medallion Management has been working with local VA officials toward filling the complex with qualified veterans, Wester said.

Many incoming residents will be sent to Silver Star upon discharge from the VA Medical Center. The complex will include on-site representatives from various social-service and employment agencies. Residents who have medical, psychological or substance-abuse issues will be able to receive treatment at the medical center.

"Anytime you can get anyone off the streets, obviously it’s a good thing," Jarzambek said. "And those who gave of their time and service for their country deserve a place to stay."