It took the better part of four years of construction, a lot of volunteer hours and plenty of community support. But the Veterans Community Project of Sioux Falls is finished.
A crowd gathered Sept. 30 for a ribbon cutting at the village at 367 N. Willow Ave. A shuttle ran people back and forth to the tiny homes. SDPB reported that the project put together 25 tiny homes with on-site support services, finishing what advocates called about a five-year journey.
Small homes, built to last
The village is designed to give homeless veterans a safe place to land while they work on what put them on the street. Pigeon605 reported that it includes 15 single-person homes and 10 family units, plus a Village Center with staff offices and a gathering space, and a building for volunteers.
The homes are small. Single-person homes are 240 square feet, and the family homes are 320 square feet. Two homes are built for people who use wheelchairs, with features such as zero-access showers, and those are 340 square feet.
The Sioux Falls village has more family units than other VCP locations. David Rieger, the project's construction and operations manager, told Pigeon605 that decision came from local point-in-time homeless counts. The family homes were built first because it's easier to fit one person into a larger home than a family into a small one.
Rieger, an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan, joined the staff in 2022. Back then, he said, the site at Seventh Street and Willow Avenue was an open lot with infrastructure started, a gravel parking lot with only the curbs poured, and a street leading up to the village.
The nonprofit broke ground in Sioux Falls in 2022. Its first village opened in 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri, with 13 homes. Sioux Falls is its smallest location.
Just before the ribbon cutting, Rieger said the village was about 95% complete. Remaining work included certificates of occupancy for the final 10 homes and the volunteer building, shelving and furnishings. A wet September also held up sod, trees and other landscaping.
Already making a difference
Even before construction wrapped up, the homes were in use. Pigeon605 reported that 29 veterans have been housed so far: 15 have gone through the program and 14 live there now. Rieger put the program's success rate at about 85%.
The need is bigger than one village. Pigeon605, citing the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, reported that there were 32,495 homeless veterans in the United States in 2025, including 13,518 who were unsheltered. One current resident, a Navy veteran named Mike, had been living in his vehicle. "They offered me a place to stay, and I accepted, and it basically saved my life," he said.
At the ceremony, VCP co-founder and CEO Bryan Meyer said the buildings are only part of the story. "Buildings don't save people, people save people," Meyer said, according to SDPB. "And that's what we're doing here."
Jim Linn, executive director of the Sioux Falls project, told the crowd about the newest resident. Gary is an 80-year-old who served in the National Guard and was homeless for 11 years. On move-in day, Linn said, Gary was late because he was taking one last nap in his car in the park.
Now that major construction is done, Rieger said, the focus will shift to operations. That includes mental health services, partnerships with medical and dental clinics, and an outreach van to find veterans in need.
Why it matters for Contractors
This project is a reminder that not every housing job is a subdivision or an apartment complex. Building 25 small homes, a village center and a volunteer building took coordination among a nonprofit, volunteers, donors and local businesses. It took years to get from a gravel lot to a finished village.
Tiny homes bring their own challenges. Accessibility features, tight floor plans and meeting codes on small footprints all take careful work. They also offer a way for contractors to give back. Many local companies and volunteers helped make this one happen.
For builders and trades in Sioux Falls, the village shows what a community can do when it decides to tackle a problem. The work isn't over, either. Homes need maintenance, and the next phase means more services on site. Contractors who want to help the veterans living there will find plenty of ways to do it.