Medford, Ore. — “Veterans are the backbone of our nation,” Fred Herrmann said after he heard about Access wanting to build affordable housing for veterans. He told them about the property he owns on North Front Street in downtown Medford.
“We have the American Legion right here and so the entire project is really built together with the American Legion and makes a beautiful project for this area,” Herrmann said.
The project is called Victory Palace and is expected to cost more than $2 million. But most is being covered by grant funding through Oregon Housing and Community Services.
Access Housing Director Joe Vollmar says they noticed a need for an affordable housing complex designated for veterans through the organization’s support services for families program.
“We’re identifying a lot of those people that are in need, but we’re not finding available units for them — to actually house them. So this is an opportunity for us to get some of those people housed and it’s just a need. It’s a need all the way across the country,” Vollmar said.
For Herrmann, it’s important that veterans are taken care of.
“I had a brother that was killed in WWII,” Herrmann said.
He’s had a lot of family in the military and is the son of a veteran.
Now Herrmann says he’s thrilled to see the complex going up to help support his fellow veterans and the need for affordable housing in Southern Oregon.
“The general contractor says that in six months it should be built and that’ll mean that 25 more veterans will be able to be housed,” Herrmann said.
Access hopes to open the complex by December.
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