Show Low nonprofit starts construction on transitional housing village

SHOW LOW — Tucked back among businesses and loading docks in one of Show Low's industrial zones, dozens of people gathered last week to celebrate the official start of construction for Victory Village, a years-long project from a local nonprofit to combat homelessness in the White Mountains.

The White Mountain Coalition Against Homelessness was officially formed in 2015, a collection of local groups from across the region who had each been trying to address the issue. In the years since, they used an old motel to house up to 38 people experiencing homelessness in Show Low. After that property was sold, they were left with just a single hotel room and a donated house to cover the countless people in need.

And while they're still able to help some — they're currently housing a family of five in the donated home and a young mother and her children escaping domestic violence in the coalition's hotel room — Victory Village will allow them to house more people at once than ever before.

How will the program work?

Lisa Vigil wears numerous hats for the organization including being the treasurer, a case manager and the property manager at Victory Village.

"We help with job skills, life-building skills," Vigil said.

Upon completion, the transitional housing project will include ten 720-square-foot homes that can house up to four individuals each or a family of six. Residence in the Village depends on compliance with the 90-day program's many rules, which include no alcohol or drugs and the completion of at least 10 job searches a day when looking for employment.

Throughout the duration of their time in the program, individuals will also give half of their paychecks to the organization to be saved for them to cover future security deposits as well as first and last month's rent payments once they find somewhere to live in town.

David Sherman, the former president of the coalition, spoke about his more than 20 years of work with the homeless in the White Mountains with this project as the culmination of many of those efforts.

"This was the dream from the beginning — to provide housing for people on a temporary basis so they can get their lives back together," Sherman said.

What does the community think?

Despite the abundant need for this kind of program in the community, the project was met with strong opposition over the years, Pastor Tom Brown, an original founder of the coalition, said.

"This has been a long, laborious effort to try and do what we should have done anyway," Brown said.

Brown said the stereotypes of homeless populations regarding drug use, mental illness and crime have all likely contributed to the community's hesitance to move this project forward.

After realizing they would likely never get community support for the project in a residential zone, he said, they partnered with city officials to begin looking in the town's industrial zones. They eventually came across the current site which already had a house on it — perfect for a property manager.

"This is a program, this is not a welfare giveaway," Brown said.

The down payment for the property was funded through two large donations from two local churches. The rest of the purchase was covered through a grant from the city of Show Low, and a grant from Navajo County funded the start of construction.

Right now, all of the water lines for the property are installed and ready for testing, Richard Koberna, the local developer contracted for the project, said. Construction of the first two buildings will start soon after, with the goal to complete at least one — but ideally both — within the next 60 days, Koberna said.

To help cut down costs, they are also opening up the construction to local businesses, allowing companies and developers to sponsor parts of the project within their trade. For example, another company could provide labor for the framing or wiring or pay for the materials, Koberna said.

While it's all dependent on when funds become available, Koberna wants to see Victory Village entirely complete by the end of the year.

"That's the goal and it depends on God and people's generosity," he said.

What's the rental market like in Show Low?

Not unlike the rest of northern Arizona, the rental market in Show Low and surrounding communities in the White Mountains presents another challenge for countless residents, especially those trying to escape homelessness and other related hardships.

And while Victory Village marks a major step forward for the unhoused population in the community, coalition vice president Roger Brown acknowledged the challenges that are still facing those in their program even after they've graduated.

"Up here on the mountain, any type of rental housing is hard to find," Brown said.

"In 90 days — we can't find low-income housing for them, we can't find HUD housing for them," he said. "There's nothing out here on the mountain."

In Show Low, 12.5% of the city's roughly 12,000 residents, or about 1,500 people, are living in poverty, according to the most recent census data. In nearby Snowflake, the situation is even more dire as roughly the same number of people are in poverty in a town with about half of the total residents as Show Low, census data shows.

"This is not a homeless shelter," Brown said. "This is a program to get people back into a working, social society. That's our goal. We don't want them to graduate from the program and then go back into homelessness."

While the property is still almost entirely dirt, there are already a few people on the waitlist for Victory Village, Vigil said.

"This is not a waste of time, it's not a waste of money," she said. "We are doing a really good thing here on this mountain."

If you are in need of housing assistance or interested in helping with the coalition's mission, call 928-242-1849 or email WMVV.ShowLow@gmail.com.

Reach the reporter at LLatch@gannett.com.

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