Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Andrade.
Hi Lauren , we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In 2010 when I returned from deployment to Iraq, within months two people I deployed with were homeless, by 6 months 3 were. I worked in Houston for the busses i was am accident investigator for First Transit there and I would buy gift cards and hand them out but I would always ask if they were veterans, 96% of those I encountered were. I knew if I ever could help I would be
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Nothing smooth here.
First obstacle was where to house and how. Got the land in 2015 and started building the generation 1 tiny home. It was finished for housing in 2017. Over the years it alone has housed over 60 – usually with kids.
The gen 1 house was scratched for the village, we had multiple county issues.
Including them denying the design for the 3 part gen 1 tiny homes.
Back to the chalk board. After searching all building codes we went with ADU (accessory Dwelling Units) by the time we built the common area and 4 units the county decided we should be commercial. So now we have the only driveway on under an acre that can support a fully loaded full size 80,000lb Dallas City Fire Truck. When that was completed they decided to recreate our septic system quite a chunk of change to completely re design your already in septic. I have run out of money often but made it to 10 units for homeless veterans
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Well besides military for a bit my life seemed to focus on security and cooking usually both because they kept me from getting tired of doing them. Switched up. However because of some disabilities after deployment these things became difficult which is when I switched to metro. When I started SVV though I could not balance both and put my notice in. Since starting SVV i have had some luck with my previous skills. I have a secure site with proper cameras, I have cooked for many of our residents (we will hit 300 served this month or next) i taxi the new residents to and from VA appointments and help them get disability. I added a few skills also, I can now build, I can long term budget which is very important when you are not funded/ self funded.
I have just enlisted the dream team for the administration of the organization. Jason Sturgis from Sturgis Enterprises AF veteran is the new President, Rachael Mueller (Navy) is the Vice President, Cody Wood and Brandon are our intake / village directors Trish Winn and Mike Green are projects and research . I now act as a Steward what sets SVV apart is we are the only (that I know of still) that will house a family intact, male veterans with or without children, we will not separate families nor pets. We are inclusive we will help with any issues via partnership with others if we cannot help directly such as mental health. What am I most Proud of? Every graduation day. Watching a veteran go from rock bottom with little to no hope to a working, driving happy person
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Well God has a hand in this. This endeavor would not have made it through one phase without him placing what Ineeded before me.
Donald French my partner. He is the design proofer the error fixer, the master electrician that did our electric. He is the code searcher.
I am great at ideas, but not so great at taking that idea from point a to z
Don does that. He sees my vision and he lays out the path I just have to follow.
Pricing:
- 267.00 Houses a veteran for a full month
- 1200. One months utilities
- 200 a month feeds a veteran
- 60.00 helps veterans secure ID
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Serenityveteransvillage.org
- Facebook: Facebook.com/Serenity veterans village
