HEROES LIVE HERE
Jonesboro project gives homeless veterans a fresh start. BY DWAIN HEBDA The neighborhood concept of Veterans Village is anchored by a 1,500-squarefoot activities center surrounding by small houses and other amenities.
54 | BLOCK, STREET & BUILDING VOLUME 7 | 2021
COOPER MIXON ARCHITECTS
H
arold Copenhaver and Harold Perrin hold a lot in common. Besides sharing the same first name, both men have spent decades living and working in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Both have a long history of civic involvement and both ran for and were elected mayor of the Northeast Arkansas city. In fact, their respective administrations fell backto-back, Perrin from 2009 to 2020 and Copenhaver taking the reins after that. But of all the things they hold in common, arguably none is more impactful than Veterans Village, a public-private development to provide dignified housing and facilitate services for homeless veterans. “My father was an Air Force veteran of 24 years. I, myself, was born at the Air Force Academy,” Copenhaver said. “Veterans are the foundation to why we have the freedoms to do what we’re doing now.” “We’re giving back to these guys and ladies who served in any branch of the military,” Perrin said. “We owe it to them to give them a nice place to live.” The issue of homelessness in general, and of vets in particular, has become an increasingly thorny one in Jonesboro. The city, population nearly 80,000, doesn’t even have a homeless shelter. Veterans’ services took a step forward with the opening of the Beck PRIDE Center at Arkansas State University, an office that provides combat-wounded veterans with various educational programs and services. Inspired by this model, ideas for transitional housing to dovetail with Beck PRIDE’s programs began to take shape under Perrin’s administration.
