A veterans’ housing community in Union is nearing its first move-in, with homes under roof and the project’s founder saying a resident could arrive after construction is completed. Dan Mense, who runs the nonprofit Veterans Way Community, said the project was cautiously expected to be completed by the end of November 2026, with a first veteran resident welcomed to Union sometime after that.
Construction Nears the Finish Line
As of the reporting, Mense said all the homes were under roof, crews were painting the last five units, and electrical service was expected soon, according to The Missourian. Street work on the site was set to begin that week and wrap up the following week. The community sits on 2.8 acres off Highway 50 near East Central College in Union, after the city approved a zoning change for the project earlier this year.
The Missourian's reporting describes 25 homes, each measuring 12 by 24 feet with a 4-foot front porch, while Veterans Way Community's own website describes a planned community of 25 fully furnished homes measuring 12 by 24 feet each. The homes are meant to come fully equipped: essential appliances, furniture, internet access, kitchenware, bedding and household necessities, with the nonprofit's site noting that HUD-subsidized rent and included utilities are designed to keep costs low for residents.
A Bail Bondsman's Idea Becomes a Nonprofit
Mense, who serves as president of Veterans Way Community, came up with the idea for the project and has served as its primary financial backer and fundraiser. He's worked as a bail bondsman for 25 years, served in the U.S. Navy, and graduated from Washington High School in 1975. The organization was established as a nonprofit in 2025, and the project has continued to move forward.
The community is designed to support independent living and will include a community center where veterans can access support services and donated food, per the same Missourian account. Veterans Way Community is operating independently of the national Veterans Community Project, though it shares a similar mission — that organization began as a group of veterans in Kansas City, expanded to St. Louis, and now operates about a half-dozen tiny home communities nationwide.
Comparable Communities in Kansas City and St. Louis
Those sister-style projects offer a glimpse of what supportive tiny-home living can look like at scale. In Kansas City, the Veterans Community Project Village grew to 49 tiny homes on 89th Street and Troost Avenue, according to KCUR, with residents getting access to counseling, dental care, veterinary services for pets, and financial literacy instruction alongside homes ranging from 240 to 320 square feet offered as transitional housing for up to two years. KCUR reported in 2021 that the tiny-home model was on the rise, with some housing advocates seeing potential for it to address homelessness more broadly in the Kansas City area.
In St. Louis, the Veterans Community Project's first phase included 20 homes, with the full complex eventually planned to reach 50 tiny homes, 240-square-foot units for individuals and 320-square-foot units for families of five, according to St. Louis Public Radio. That outlet reported veterans there stayed in the tiny homes a little more than 400 days on average before transitioning to permanent housing.
Applications and Support Services Line Up
The Veterans Way board has received 27 applications for housing units and is processing them with the Jefferson-Franklin Community Action Corp. Homeless applicants must meet the VA’s HUD-VASH safe-housing criteria. The VA has also lent its support to the Union project.
What Homelessness Counts Measure
The federal Point-in-Time count is not a tally of applications to a particular housing project or calls for help. HUD’s 2024 AHAR defines PIT counts as unduplicated one-night estimates of sheltered and unsheltered homelessness. It also says people already living in permanent supportive housing, including those using HUD-VASH vouchers, are excluded from the count, so the measure does not capture everyone receiving housing support, according to HUD. HUD-VASH is a federal program that combines Housing Choice Voucher rental assistance with case management and clinical services from the VA, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It provides assistance to eligible veterans; it is distinct from the locally operated Union community.
Dan Mense told KMOX that calls for help have become a near-daily occurrence. “We're getting phone calls pretty much daily now with veterans that unfortunately are on the streets or will be on the streets shortly,” he said. The federal government's annual Point-in-Time count, an effort led by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is meant to estimate the number of Americans, including veterans, without safe, stable housing, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Funding the $20,000-a-Month Operation
Keeping the community running is expected to cost about $20,000 per month, and local donors have stepped up to help close that gap. Jimmy John's of Franklin County donated $2,000 to Veterans Way Community from its Freaky Fast 5K charity run, held in Sullivan in October. United Bank of Union has supported the project since its beginning, backing construction along the way.
Earlier this year, VFW Post 12243 and American Legion Post 297 collected an estimated $4,000 in bedding, towels, pillows, kitchen items and monetary donations to help furnish the homes, The Missourian reported in May, when some units were nearing completion while others had not yet broken ground. The Veterans Way board also hopes to buy a vehicle to transport veterans to medical appointments and job interviews, and potentially to St. Louis for classes. Organizers say the project will continue to need community support once residents actually move in.
