A 4.67-acre stretch of Second Avenue North in Palm Springs is becoming home to 54 units of affordable housing built specifically for veterans and their families, part of a project called Village of Valor that organizers say is designed to keep former service members from cycling back into homelessness. The development includes 130 bedrooms across two- and three-bedroom floor plans, and it comes with on-site support services meant to help residents stay housed for good.
Josh Maddock, executive director of Stand Down PBC, said the project addresses a persistent gap in affordable housing for the county's veterans, according to WPTV. Stand Down PBC, the organization building Village of Valor, is the operating name of FaithHopeLove Charity Inc., which serves homeless and at-risk veterans and their families across Palm Beach County. The nonprofit was founded by Roy Foster, a veteran who was released from the military in the 1980s and says his own post-service struggles shaped the mission he later built.
Foster has said he drifted for about five years after leaving the military before a 1989 visit to the VA in Miami left him rattled by what he described as frightening conditions in the services available to veterans there. He has said that experience, combined with the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks, motivated him to commit to helping veterans full time. “The goal is to empower veterans rather than abandon them,” Foster has said, per the same WPTV report.
From Emergency Shelter to Long-Term Family Housing
Stand Down PBC's roots stretch back decades before Village of Valor broke ground. The organization opened its Stand Down House campus for male veteran transitional housing in 2000, established the First Stop Veterans' Resource Center in 2009, and expanded to First Stop Housing for female veterans in 2010, according to Stand Down PBC. Stand Down House alone provides more than 10,000 sheltered nights annually, while the resource center assists more than 1,000 veterans and family members each year, per WPTV's reporting.
That history of serving primarily single male veterans through short-term shelter eventually ran into a different kind of demand. Rising need for female veteran housing and family stability pushed Stand Down PBC toward the multi-bedroom model now taking shape at Village of Valor, according to Florida YIMBY. The site at 2701–2751 Second Avenue North will feature two four-story energy-efficient buildings facing a central lake water feature, with 26 two-bedroom and 28 three-bedroom units, construction on which began in late 2025.
Who Qualifies, and What Comes With It
Residency will be restricted to households earning between 30% and 80% of Palm Beach County's Area Median Income, which stood at $111,800 in 2025, Florida YIMBY reports. Half of the 54 units are set aside for families earning 50% or less of that median, six units are reserved for individuals with special needs, and the property carries a 50-year affordability deed restriction. Village of Valor is designed to serve homeless and nearly homeless veterans and their families, offering what organizers describe as stability, support and community rather than housing alone.
That support is built into the property itself. Ground-floor plans set aside 10,000 square feet of commercial and office space specifically for FaithHopeLove Charity to run on-site vocational training, case management, and supportive service programs, according to Multi-Housing News. The intent, per the same reporting, is to give residents access to job help and stability resources without leaving the campus where they live.
A Complex Financing Stack Behind the Build
Getting Village of Valor built has required stitching together public and private money at a scale unusual for a 54-unit project. Merchants Capital reported securing over $33.8 million in total financing, made up of a $15.8 million construction loan from Merchants Bank, a $6.5 million Freddie Mac Forward TEL loan, and $11.5 million in Low-Income Housing Tax Credit equity, according to Merchants Capital.
Palm Beach County added its own backing, with the Board of County Commissioners allocating $6.3 million in county funding, consisting of a $4.3 million zero-interest 20-year loan from the General Obligation Housing Bond program and $2 million in Neighborhood Stabilization Program 2 funds. Hoodline previously reported on the county's groundbreaking approval of that funding. The project is a joint initiative combining Stand Down PBC, Chicago-based developer Turnstone Development Corp., and the Palm Beach County Housing Authority, with construction managed by American Platinum Builders, per Florida YIMBY.
Stories Behind the Statistics
For some, Stand Down's work has already changed the trajectory of a family. Veteran and caregiver James McFadden owned his first home in April with help from the organization, and Ariana Valentin, now a homeowner, has said Stand Down was a great resource for her as she moved from renting to owning. Sylvia Meade, a Stand Down board member, has said her husband's military-service crisis underscored for her why a project like Village of Valor matters, according to WPTV.
Stand Down PBC also raises funds and awareness through community events, including its annual Casino Night at the Lake Pavilion in West Palm Beach, scheduled for November 7 at 6 p.m., with proceeds going toward the organization's broader mission.
A Local Effort Amid Broader Declines in Veteran Homelessness
Village of Valor is rising as both local and national veteran homelessness numbers trend downward. The Palm Beach County Homeless and Housing Alliance reported that the January 2025 Point-in-Time count found overall county homelessness had dropped 28% year-over-year to 1,520 individuals, alongside a 10% decrease in veteran homelessness, according to the Boca Raton Tribune. Nationally, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs analysis of HUD Point-in-Time data recorded 32,495 veterans experiencing homelessness in January 2025, a 1.2% decrease from 2024 and a 56.1% decline since 2010.
County officials have noted that recent state legislation restricting public camping may affect how homelessness is identified during future point-in-time counts, an open question that could complicate how progress gets measured going forward. Village of Valor represents what organizers describe as a long-term effort to reduce veteran homelessness in Palm Beach County, built not simply as subsidized housing but as a supportive campus meant to keep the veterans who move in from ever needing emergency shelter again.
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