In season four of Netflix’s “Queer Eye,” viewers were introduced to Brandonn Mixon, a military veteran who co-founded the nonprofit Veterans Community Project.
As the organization’s chief project officer, he oversees the development of tiny home communities for veterans facing homelessness. Despite his efforts to help his own community, the “Queer Eye” team stepped in to give him a helping hand of his own.
In the episode, he forged connections with the “Fab Five” and made a commitment to spend more time with his family, cooking meals and coaching his sons’ sports teams.
“When I got out of the military I felt like I got left behind, that I got abandoned,” he told Refinery29 after his episode aired.
“I’m really hoping that they [other servicemembers] see from my episode that I’m going through this and that I asked for help. I literally did this knowing I could change one of my brother or sister’s lives. If I can stop them from thinking they’re alone, it has been worth it, 110%.”
Well, nearly six years later, he’s still in the business of changing the lives of his fellow vets.
Based in Kansas City, the Veterans Community Project services more than 1,200 veterans in the Missouri area each year.
But now, it’s expanded to five other cities across the country. Last year, projects in Longmont Colorado, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and St. Louis, Missouri celebrated a year of operation.
Next up is a 40-unit tiny home neighborhood for veterans in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“Really, making this dream a reality, to now changing what veterans' homelessness looks like nationally,” Mixon told KSHB 41 last year, “If you would have told me we were changing veterans' lives nationally, there’s no way. You’re talking about small-town guys in KC with a dream.”
The newest project in Milwaukee is set to begin construction this year, driven by private funds, as well as a $4 million state grant.
Tiny homes in the new community will sit on a 7-acre site and will range from 240 to 340 square feet. Each home includes a kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping areas, with eight homes set aside for veterans with families.
They will be completely free for residents to live in.
“We’re done leaving veterans behind,” Mixon told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The neighborhood will also provide social activities and case management services, education, and health and wellness programming.
Even the design elements of each home are made with vets in mind.
“Every detail of the home is designed with veterans’ needs in mind,” a plan for the Milwaukee project explains, "including placement of doors and windows to increase a sense of security for those impacted by post-traumatic stress disorder.”
Like the many tiny home developments that come before it, the goal of these communities is to help residents find stability through social connections, jobs, and case management that ultimately leads them to a more permanent housing situation.
It’s a model that seems to work.
According to Mixon, over 4,000 cities have reached out to Veterans Community Project, seeking to build veteran villages of their own.
Back home in Kansas City, the organization is planning to open a $5.8 million navigation campus next year.
“We strongly believe we really have that one shot,” he told KSHB 41. “A veteran can come there and can say, 'I need help with social security or VA enrollment or dental or healthcare services.’”
In the meantime, much of the on-the-ground work includes continuous funding for these projects, both from large corporate donors, local government contracts, and grassroots donations from neighbors who simply care about helping veterans.
Last spring, the organization sold concert tickets at a Milwaukee music festival to help ramp up support.
“VCP is a nonprofit that serves all veterans. It doesn't matter if you’re honorably discharged, dishonorably discharged, this is your home," Mixon told 58 News Milwaukee.
“It starts in Milwaukee, it starts in Kansas City, it starts in St Louis, it starts in Glendale, it starts in Oklahoma City,” he added. “The communities take the oath, saying I'm not going to let veterans fail anymore, and Milwaukee is doing that here.”
Header image courtesy of Veterans Community Project
