Warrior Homes of Collier, which has a waiting list of homeless veterans, just added two homes to its four-home inventory after Collier County commissioners unanimously agreed the county should rent two vacant East Naples homes to the non-profit veterans group.
The Board of County Commissioners on Nov. 12 approved an initial one-year lease for two vacant, county-owned homes near Bayshore Park that had been used by the county to temporarily house employees. Warrior Homes will pay $1,000 monthly per bedroom under the lease, which has annual options to renew, allowing it to house six more veterans.
“That will bring the number of beds we have up to 39 beds, which is just phenomenal in trying to address this issue,” Thomas Buckley, Warrior Homes’ board treasurer, told commissioners. “We recognize that it could be just a temporary or an interim lease, but we have people right now that are ready to move in. … Our goal is to end homelessness in Collier County.”
Warrior Homes, founded 10 years ago by veteran Dale Mullin as Wounded Warriors of Collier County, assists men and women veterans who need housing, mental-health support and access to higher education. The number of homeless veterans in Collier is now 30 to 40, but there were 90-95 until Warrior Homes created four residences over the past five years.
Commissioner Rick LoCastro, a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, noted the lease agreement came a day after Veterans’ Day — the same morning the Board approved two resolutions honoring veterans, including one that said it’s Collier’s goal to be Florida’s most veteran-friendly county.
“This couldn’t come at a better time,” LoCastro said, noting it was the culmination of many meetings with state Rep. Bob Rommel, veterans groups, Warrior Homes founder Dale Mullin, senior county staff and others. “That would at least get some people off the streets and allow the county to continue to be part of the solution.”
The vote came three days after Warrior Homes raised more than $1 million at its annual Hope and Honor Gala to pay off its 2022 purchase of Delta House, a home for elderly vets. Warrior Homes also recently received $110,000 from The Schoen Foundation, created by late Naples businessman and healthcare executive Bill Schoen, a Korean War veteran.
The two homes were among seven lots the county purchased east of Bayview Park in 2004 for future beach and boat access areas, which aren’t needed now. Two lots, 1973 and 2015 Bay Street, are single-family, three-bedroom homes with two bathrooms. In 2006, Collier created a program to offer temporary housing in unoccupied county-owned homes for new employees, existing employees under special circumstances and interns, but the two homes were underused and are vacant.
Under the lease, Warrior Homes will handle minor repairs, such as clogged drains, and the county will be responsible for repair and replacement of major structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing failures.
Warrior Homes’ four homes serve various needs: Alpha House is a short-term, transitional residence for veterans recovering from substance-use disorders; Bravo and Charlie houses serve seniors on fixed incomes who receive supportive-housing rent subsidies; and Delta House is a supportive-housing, 10-apartment complex for up to 20 veterans.
Warrior Homes also connects veterans with support services, including mental-health counseling and peer support at David Lawrence Centers, and educational opportunities, such as college scholarships. Residents pay rent on a sliding scale, no more than 30% of their income.
“Someone on Social Security might only make $1,200 a month. … The most they’re going to pay is $360, so they will have some money invested, but we’re not going to turn anyone away because of the lack of resources,” Buckley said.
He assured commissioners that all vets will be fully vetted by a management company that also reviews their military discharge papers. The homes wouldn’t be used for transitional housing but would allow veterans to move to permanent housing.
Commissioner Dan Kowal, a U.S. Army veteran, asked what programs the veterans go through to ensure success. “We want to see all our veterans get to a point where they can stand on their own two feet and be positive in our community,” Kowal said.
Delta House is for elderly veterans, a “last stop,” Buckley said, but veterans in Alpha and Bravo houses go through programs to get them back on their feet, with a job and a permanent home. He cited an Alpha House resident who spent 41 months in the Middle East, returned with many problems, went through Veterans Treatment Court and is now working with Warrior Homes to counsel veterans, mostly from the Middle East. And a Delta House resident, a retired Navy officer, is earning his master’s degree, and will get a job and move out.
“We’re not pushing anyone out,” Buckley said, noting, however, that some elderly veterans will probably live in Delta House forever because they don’t have families they can live with. “But to the extent that people are younger and motivated, that’s certainly what we encourage them to do — and we’ll do what we can to help them.”
This story was published in The Naples Press on Nov. 22.
