A New Plan For a Great Idea for Amarillo Veterans
Amarillo has seen many instances of yes, it's a good idea, but the execution of the plan is not.
Amarillo is full of good-hearted community members who want to do good for the city and those less fortunate. However, when a plan is not thought out on all sides it turns into a battle between those in charge and those that want their voices heard. That is exactly what happened to a project brought before Potter County called Homeless Heroes.
The idea is to build a tiny home community for homeless veterans in Amarillo.
Tiffany Bellflower found the charity Homeless Heroes and began to help homeless veterans in Amarillo.
The mission of Homeless Heroes is to work toward building a tiny home community for our local homeless veterans.
The idea is to build a small community consisting of 10 homes, 5 one-bedroom, and 5-two-bedroom tiny homes. The area would include a community center, community garden, and a dog run.
This sounds like a great idea for our homeless veterans. They can finally have a place to call home, giving them a chance to get back on their feet.
Homeless Heroes went before the Potter County Commission and 10 acres of land were donated in the Willow Creek area near River Road.
Great, right? No.
Here's the problem, the community of River Road was not given a chance to have a say in the project and it upset a lot of people. Many of the concerns were the location of the project. This location does not have access to public transportation, it does not have sidewalks, nor is it near any services. Plus, the closest grocery store is over 3 miles away.
On February 27th, the Potter County Commissioners Court met and those public officials heard comments from the public for over an hour on the Homeless Heroes project. A motion was made to rescind the donation of the 10 acres and it failed 3-2. However, the organization's founder Tiffany Belflower asked for the donation of the land to be rescinded.
A motion was made again to rescind the donation and it passed unanimously. The land was rescinded.
Although opposition came from some of the residents of River Road, it wasn't due to the fact that they didn't want our veterans to have homes, it was the simple fact that the location just didn't make sense for the home project.
What does this mean for the project?
According to a statement posted on the Homeless Heroes Facebook page,
Our plan got stronger, our support increased, and it made our organization stronger as a whole, and more determined than ever. We thank the people that support what we are doing. We thank those that are looking for ways to help us to make this happen. We thank this adversity for making us better.
Click here for the full statement.
The project will continue with a bigger and better plan for our veterans. There is a possible new location being looked at and vetted that will be closer to the services our homeless veterans need.
If you are interested in helping out Homeless Heroes you can find out more on their website.
We owe our veterans our thanks and lives for our freedoms. That includes our freedom to oppose something we don't think was handled correctly, and ask for a better plan. Plus, our freedom to create ideas and see them to fruition.
Hopefully, something beautiful will come from this learning curve. A beautiful veteran home community and, who knows, it's quite possible that Potter County and the City of Amarillo will begin looking at expanding public transportation and more accessibility into this area. Plus, more great stores and amenities in River Road.
LOOK: This is where homes are selling the fastest right now
LOOK: 100 years of American military history
LOOK: Famous Historic Homes in Every State