We’ve wrapped up the holiday season, rung in a new year (2025!), been buried in our first snow of the year, and now it’s time to focus on the work that lies ahead. 2025 has already been busy, and I know that we will continue full steam ahead through the next 12 months focused on our mission to serve veterans and families facing homelessness in our State.

Obviously, the Manchester fire has been top of mind for all of us, and 2025 started off in the right direction there. We’ve recently leased 28 apartment units near our Warman Property to continue operating our transitional beds in a more stable location. Shout out to our Support and Transitional Housing Teams for helping furnish each unit with furniture as we prepare to welcome veterans! We’ve also received a preliminary estimate on fully restoring the north part of Manchester and are looking forward to those 23 units being back open, housing veterans in the summer!

We are focused on major property upgrades at our other locations. Thanks to the Home Depot Foundation, we have nearly completed kitchen remodels at our Loyd and Newton transitional properties, as well as improvements to address basement moisture at Newton. We will be replacing HVAC units in 4 permanent supportive housing units at our Carson Apartments this month. And, in partnership with United Way of Central Indiana, we will soon be assessing our Veterans Villa apartment building to understand upcoming and longer-term maintenance needs.

We will continue to focus on achieving the goals in our Strategic Plan this year. 2025 will mark our first full year of Employment Services in Terre Haute! We are excited to continue enrolling veterans in our programs and helping them find sustainable employment in West Central Indiana. We will also utilize this year to identify a potential second location for expansion and we will move forward soon to hire an additional therapist to better meet the needs of Hoosier veterans.

Soon, we will release our 2024 outcomes, and I’m excited to share with you the amazing impact HVAF had on our community last year. All of our programs, transitional housing, rapid rehousing, permanent housing, employment, mental health services, and basic needs assistance worked hard all year long serving Hoosier veterans!

I want to leave you with one story. On Monday, January 6, HVAF staff demonstrated once again, our commitment to serving the most vulnerable veterans. While much of our city hunkered down to weather the snowstorm, HVAF remained open to serve! Our Support and Community Center Teams ensured that our properties were cleared of snow and open for veterans who needed support during the storm. The Donald W. Moreau, Sr. Veterans Community Center served as a warming center and provided coffee and snacks during the day. Katie, one of our Community Center Specialists, shared with me that she knew she had to get into work because there are veterans that need us. I couldn’t wrap up a look at the year ahead any better.

We will be focused on our mission this year, doing all we can to serve, because there are veterans that need us.