releases: https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/claire-mccaskill-admires-veteran-housing-at-patriot-place-
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/media-center/latest-headlines/claire-mccaskill-admires-veteran-housing-at-patriot-place- | Claire McCaskill admires veteran housing at Patriot Place | 2016-10-10 | 2016 | 2016-10 | Democrat | House | MO | Claire McCaskill | M001170 | www.mccaskill.senate.gov | legacy | Claire McCaskill admires veteran housing at Patriot Place Monday, October 10, 2016 By: Devon Yarbrough COLUMBIA — When U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill walked into Columbia's Patriot Place Apartments on Monday, she couldn't believe what she saw. "These are very roomy — much bigger than my daughter's New York apartment," U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill joked while touring the fully-furnished one-bed, one-bath apartment. Patriot Place has 25 apartments that it has provided for homeless veterans since April. The apartment complex sprouted from a collaboration between the Columbia Housing Authority and Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital*, who teamed up in 2015 to convert an abandoned Deluxe Inn into a veteran housing facility, according to previous Missourian reporting. The housing authority* was able to rebuild and fully furnish the new veteran facility with funding from the Missouri Housing Development Commission, Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines, the Missouri Foundation for Health, Veterans United Home Loans and Shelter Insurance Cos. There also are 25 vouchers from the federal Veterans Affairs Supporting Housing program that provide a permanent rent subsidy for veterans living at Patriot Place. McCaskill praised the organizations who came together for the Patriot Place project and said she felt encouraged by Welcome Home Inc.'s programs to help the veterans with jobs, transportation and substance abuse. "It's not just a veteran walking into a beautiful apartment. It's a veteran walking into a beautiful apartment with a whole team behind that veteran to make sure they succeed," McCaskill said. Veteran Francis "Sonny" Brown, a tenant at Patriot Place, told McCaskill he was very appreciative of the programs, as he had been battling with substance abuse for a while. Brown, who is originally from St. Louis, said that the other veteran housing facilities he went to would revoke veterans' rent subsidized housing vouchers if they relapsed. "One of the things I like here, is that if you relapse they take you back," Brown said. "They really are about helping you. They don't hold it over your head." Brown said he liked living at the facility and was looking forward to new amenities Patriot Place might add. The facility has developed raised garden beds in the adjacent Patriot Park and is planning to add a dog park. Welcome Home, Inc., an emergency shelter for veterans, is building a new emergency shelter adjacent to the Patriot Place. It will contain 32 rooms and allow veterans to transition from homelessness to emergency shelter and then permanent housing McCaskill said that the Patriot Place Project should be an example for other states dealing with veteran homelessness, and she hopes that this progress continues in Missouri. "It's not just providing a home for these veterans," said McCaskill. "It's saying what we should be saying to every veteran. That is, 'we're going to take care of you because you took care of us.'" Print Email Tweet | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |