The biggest new star quarterback of NFL doesn’t get a lot of free time. Practicing is as important as game time, so when the time comes to relax, it’s understandable that a young football star might actually rest. But it turns out Patrick Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs’ young QB, is a star both on and off the field.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes works with volunteers to put the finishing touches on the interior of a small, transitional home designed for veterans.
(Matt McMullen via Twitter)
The second-year QB spent his day off helping build transitional housing for veterans in the Kansas City area with The Veterans Community Project, a non-profit that’s building a specialized community network of tiny homes and services dedicated to supporting every man and woman who served — also known as Tiny Houses for Homeless Vets.
The founder of the Veterans Community Project, Chris Stout, is a former U.S. Army corporal who was wounded in Afghanistan. His own transition into civilian life was marked by trouble with PTSD and employment issues. Though not homeless himself, he told CNN he was shocked at the inefficiencies he witnessed in the programs designed to help vets escape homelessness.
When Stout discovered homeless vets shunned shelters because they were unsafe and lacked privacy, he paid for hotel rooms out of his own pocket to keep these heroes off the street — but that too was inefficient. Eventually, he and his friends left their jobs to start the VCP, helping veterans first and asking questions later.
A cluster of VCP’s tiny housing in the Kansas City, Mo. area.
(Matt McMullen via Twitter)
Clusters of tiny houses made perfect sense. That’s what VCP builds for veterans. They offer privacy, dignity, and a chance at recovery for those who need a hand up.
“We are the place that says ‘yes’ first and figures everything else out later,” Stout said. “We serve anybody who’s ever raised their hand to defend our Constitution.”
Chris Stout is currently one of CNN’s Heroes, an annual event where the cable news network honors ordinary people who make big changes in the world at large. Stout is up for CNN’s 2018 Hero of the Year Award. You can vote for him here.
The community of tiny homes is known as “Veterans Village”
(VFW)
The Veterans Community Project has built 13 homes in the Kansas City area and plans to double that number by Nov. 8, 2018. Some veterans housed there have been there since January 2018 while some have already made their way into more permanent housing. The goal for the VCP is to have 49 homes and a 4800-square foot community center built by the end of 2019.
For Mahomes, it was an important part of being welcomed into the Kansas City community. The Chiefs star quarterback wasn’t able to risk a lot in terms of heavy lifting, but someone has to paint the houses.