Berkeley Food & Housing Project (BFHP) is excited to announce the dedication of their new Rio Vista home for Veterans in Solano County. The construction of this home was made possible by the partnerships between BFHP, Solano-Napa Habitat for Humanity, American Legion Post 178, Solano County, and the City of Rio Vista.
The virtual dedication ceremony will take place on Thursday, January 28th at 10:30AM. Members of the public are encouraged to attend at: solanonapahabitat.org/riovista-dedication. You’ll hear from Calleene Egan, Executive Director of BFHP, and Andrew Killeen, Executive Director of Solano-Napa Habitat for Humanity. They will discuss how the project will benefit the Veteran community and the six Veterans experiencing homelessness who are scheduled to move in this February 1.
“Berkeley Food and Housing Project is extremely grateful for this moment and to move six Veterans experiencing homelessness into their own home on February 1,” said Egan. “The resilience and perseverance of our partners and supporters has been and continues to be the silver lining in an otherwise very challenging period. Through this journey we have learned that community, collaboration, and unity are what it takes to end Veteran Homelessness.”
The Rio Vista residence, built by Solano-Napa Habitat for Humanity, is a 2,500 sq. ft., 6-bedroom, 3-bath house that will provide a permanent home with supportive services for six local Veterans exiting homelessness. The home sits adjacent to and shares property with American Legion Post 178 and will be owned and operated by BFHP.
“This project brought together Habitat’s ability to build housing that is affordable with Berkeley Food & Housing Project’s desire to ease and end the crisis of homelessness in our communities,” Killeen said. “We are extremely proud that our partnership with them will serve those who have served us all!”
With an initial groundbreaking in August of 2019, work continued through 2020, despite the setbacks caused by COVID-19. Members of the local building trades stepped up to volunteer on the construction when Solano-Napa Habitat for Humanity’s volunteer programs were disrupted by the pandemic. This shared housing opportunity provides a sense of community and peer to peer support for the incoming residents.
“Shared housing offers a more affordable option and creates social connectivity that helps prevent the isolation that so many of our Veterans, especially seniors, experience in individual units,” said Angela Upshaw, Associate Director of Programs for BFHP. “The genuine camaraderie established within shared housing supports the social, mental, and physical well-being of Veterans and positively influences permanent and sustainable housing.”
The 2019 Point in Time count logged 147 veterans experiencing homelessness in Solano County alone, an increase of 18% from the previous year. The Rio Vista project will directly meet this need by providing affordable housing and supportive services to veterans exiting homelessness and also serve as a prototype for potential similar builds elsewhere in the Bay Area and beyond.