Made In Arizona: Tiny homes for veterans in Buckeye getting national attention

BUCKEYE, Ariz. (FOX 10) -- An Arizona non-profit organization is taking on the challenge of finding affordable housing for veterans by building tiny homes.

V-13, a veterans village on 13th Avenue and Buckeye, is a community of tiny homes built just for military veterans.

"It took us three years to get here," said Elizabeth Singleton, President and Founder of the group Build Us Hope. "Permitting, zoning, designing these homes."

Singleton said each unit is designed to be sustainable, affordable and comfortable. The group aims to give homeless veterans a place to live.

"We've gotten a lot of support from the veteran community, and from organizations across the state and the nation," said Singleton.

Lisa Montgomery helped design and build the homes from the ground up.

"When I came on, there was nothing here," said Montgomery. "It was just an empty lot, and I spent many hours, enjoyable hours, just doing whatever I could do."

They're about 288 square feet, including a kitchen, a living room, and all the necessities.

"We have everything in here that a person needs to live comfortably," said Montgomery.

"We created the gardens, and we also created two spacious areas where they could sit and communicate, have a barbeque, and it was a lot more space than we thought we would get out of this site," said Singleton.

Their message of hope has reached across the country to Washington DC, as they've been invited to the first-ever Department of Housing and Urban Development Innovative Housing Showcase at the National Mall in June. Singleton sees it as the perfect opportunity to spotlight Arizona, and expand the tiny home movement for veterans.

"We've all given our heart and soul to make sure that we present the right model, quality housing, and that we represent Arizona well," said Singleton.

Catch "Made In Arizona" every Friday, on FOX 10 News at 4.