Volunteers from Armed Forces Bank will spend the day at Veterans Community Project (VCP) in Longmont on Wednesday, April 30, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., working on various tasks to support unhoused veterans. The volunteers will assist with painting homes, landscaping, and completing maintenance for veteran housing. Other activities will include helping veterans move in or out, constructing tiny homes, preparing care packages, and leading financial literacy workshops. This volunteer event marks a significant milestone as VCP moves closer to completing its Longmont village for transitional housing.
For Vincent Morales, Army veteran and co-founder of VCP, the moment is deeply personal. “I was a part of Armed Forces Bank while I was in service,” he said. “So for me, it's a really cool thing to see a full-circle moment… a financial institution that assisted me during my time in service now assisting in this capacity. That really fuels the fire to keep doing what we’re doing.”
Tom McLean, senior vice president and regional military executive for Armed Forces Bank, said it was a natural partnership. “Serving those who serve is part of our DNA,” he said. “We’re not just writing a check… we’re physically showing up, getting our hands dirty, and demonstrating what it means to support the military community.”
VCP is best known for its rows of tiny homes designed to provide transitional housing for unhoused veterans. But Morales, who also leads the organization’s social services program, is quick to point out that housing is just one piece of the puzzle. “What we provide across the board is all those wraparound services that help individuals understand where they're at in their veteran journey,” he said. “That ranges from discharge upgrades to emergency assistance to monthly food staples. Sometimes life gets hard... sometimes you need just those little things to get you over that hump.”
Jennifer Seybold, executive director of VCP Longmont, echoed the importance of those wraparound supports and the significance of this particular moment in the village’s development. “We're about to celebrate the grand opening of our residential programming here,” she said. “We have 10 veterans living on site with what will eventually be 26 tiny home units for transitional living.”
She added that the project has only been possible thanks to Longmont’s unique community spirit. “We would not have been able to start our work here or be as successful as we have if we hadn't had the support of our city council and our political systems here, as well as our community members who have invested and been a part of this.”
VCP also emphasizes connection and restoration of dignity. “One of the things we do… and sometimes people don't understand the power of it… is in our name for a reason. We provide community,” Morales said. “We create opportunities for veterans to intermingle, to mesh with the people that they raised their hand to serve with... and we provide opportunities for individuals who have no service connection to come down, meet a veteran, and understand their journey.”
Seybold emphasized that while the village may be nearing physical completion, the work of outreach is just ramping up. “We’re gonna take a much more proactive approach in going out to the veterans,” she said. “Meeting veterans where they are in order to connect them to those other services.”
The transformation Morales has witnessed among residents is nothing short of profound. He recalls one veteran who had been living on the streets for a decade before moving into a VCP home. “It took him almost four months to actually sleep on the bed,” he said. “You have no idea how cool it was to hear him say, ‘Man, I finally slept on my bed last night.’ That’s growth. And we get to see that transformation happen in front of our eyes.”
Morales challenges the oversimplified narratives often attached to veteran homelessness. “The biggest misconception is that it’s due to one solvable issue,” he said. “People say, ‘That person's lazy,’ or ‘That person has a substance abuse problem.’ But it's a myriad of issues… financial, mental, physical, lack of resources, or not knowing how to manage them. That’s why it takes a team. It takes a village.”
VCP plans to celebrate the full completion of the site with a housewarming party on June 12th.
In support of VCP’s ongoing work, Armed Forces Bank is introducing its Heroes Round Up program in May, which allows everyday consumers to round up their purchases to support veterans experiencing homelessness. The initiative will help fund the vital services VCP provides and further their mission to provide veterans with safe, stable homes and opportunities for transformation.
