GOLDEN ISLES VETERANS’ VILLAGE INITIATIVE – BRUNSWICK, GA

Nine Line Foundation is pleased to announce a partnership with the Golden Isles Veterans’ Village Initiative to build another Veterans Village, this one in Brunswick, Georgia. The members of the Golden Isles Veterans Village initiative include:

• Nine Line Foundation

• Rotary International District 6920, which includes the Rotary Clubs of Brunswick, the Rotary Club of Jekyll Island, the Rotary Club of St. Simons’ Island and the Rotary Club of the Golden Isles

The initial vision to build a Veterans’ Village in Brunswick came from Rotary International District 6920, which was also a donor to the Cove at Dundee Veterans Village in Savannah. Having benefitted from seeing the spirit of cooperation and community support that Nine Line Foundation generated in their Savannah project, the Rotary Clubs recognized that by partnering with other similarly minded organizations, the project would become a reality that much sooner.

Nine Line Foundation already has the interior and exterior walls and roofing components built for twenty tiny homes, ready to be relocated to the Brunswick site as soon as the sitework is completed. Nine Line Foundation is also working with three schools in Illinois and anticipates that twenty more tiny home wall and roofing components will be built this Spring and transported down to Georgia. The entire village will be comprised of between 36-40 tiny homes and a large community center, where the veterans can gather, not only to socialize, but also to participate in counseling and therapy sessions, and take classes in a number of topics.

A key component of the success of the village will also be the Nine Line Foundation’s Aquaponics Training Center – a place where the veterans will not only learn the art and science of aquaponics, but become self-sufficient and self-sustaining and learn marketing skills as well as other valuable business skills. The goal is that, upon completion of the aquaponics training program, they will be ready to move on to a better life and permanent housing of their choosing.

By addressing the needs of the veterans, this transitional housing program, combined with the educational and job training opportunities made available, will give these veterans the hand up they deserve, to help them transition from the battlefield out of homelessness and on to a brighter future.

 The Golden Isles Veteran’s Village Initiative will serve as a catalyst for the development of supportive housing and a community for homeless veterans within the Golden Isles area to foster self-sufficiency and living with purpose after military life.