Wisconsin's Green Bay Packers have a long history of philanthropy. 

The NFL team’s Green Bay Packers Give Back outreach program had an impact of over $13 million in 2023, and so far this year, the team is making strides in supporting a special cause: Homelessness among veterans.

At the start of February, the team announced a $250,000 Veterans Impact Grant to Veterans 1st of Northeast Wisconsin. This grant will help address the need for affordable housing in the Green Bay area by serving local veterans facing housing insecurity.

Veterans 1st is currently building the state’s first “cottage court” of tiny homes, including 17 one-bedroom homes and four resident transitional homes for veterans in need. 

The project will also feature a community center that will provide over 20 supportive services to help veterans get back on their feet.

“Thanks to the Packers Veterans Impact Grant, Veterans 1st of Northeast Wisconsin will be offering a safe, supportive tiny homes village for up to 25 veterans every five years for them to become self-sufficient with over 20 different health, wellness, and employment services,” Kim Nohr, president of Veterans 1st, said in a statement.

“Our Veterans 1st team and over 75 partner agencies will be helping to build our village and provide our residents with any services they may need.”

The Packers have long honored veterans through their philanthropic programs, including recognizing servicemembers at the start of every home game through their Operation Fan Mail initiative, as well as visiting veterans at the local VA clinic. 

This is the fifth consecutive year that the team’s Give Back program has awarded a grant specifically for organizations that serve veterans and their families. In the past, the grant has gone to organizations like Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin and the Center for Veterans Issues.

In 2020, Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy said: “It is our responsibility as a society to continue supporting veterans who are facing a wide variety of challenges.”

Homelessness is especially rampant in the veteran community. On a single night in January 2024, over 32,000 veterans were experiencing homelessness in the United States.

The new tiny home community in Wisconsin will be one of many localized projects across the U.S. that aim to end veteran homelessness once and for all.

And in the same neighborhood as the “frozen tundra,” getting veterans off the streets and into safe, warm shelters is especially critical.

Built on the east side of Green Bay, the new community will also be located near the local Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic. Construction is set to begin later this year and it’s expected to be completed in 2027.

Veterans 1st has received $1.95 million in total donations to support the project, with a goal of raising $1 million more in additional funds to complete the new tiny home village. 

“There is an incredible shortage of affordable housing in Brown County … as well as many veterans facing housing insecurity, up to 13%,” the organization’s website explains.

“By removing the concern as to where they will be living, we will be able to navigate them to resources and address individual needs as they arise.”

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Header image courtesy of Evan Siegle/packers.com