Timber Products Donates to the Warrior Village Project
Based in San Diego County, the Warrior Village Project’s vision is to build affordable, permanent housing for homeless veterans, while training the next generation of homebuilders. The project has been made possible through a collaboration between the building industry, veteran focused non-profits, San Diego County high schools and colleges and businesses and private donors. The builders are high school and college students, building tiny homes in their construction classes, learning valuable building trades along the way. At the end of the year the tiny homes will be donated to nonprofits who deploy the homes to house homeless veterans. Through the project, students learn skills that prepare them for careers in the building industry or higher education in STEM fields, while veterans receive permanent, affordable housing.
The Warrior Village Project began their first build in the 2019-2020 school year. Due to COVID-19, the project had to hit pause until students were back to in-person learning during the 2021-2022 school year. Their first project was a 400 sq ft cottage, constructed in two 8’6″ x 24′ modules. The first cottage was donated to Wounded Warrior Homes and used as a transitional home for veterans experiencing PTSD, offering them a few months of experience living alone before moving to a permanent home in the “civilian” world. So far, eleven veterans have lived in the ADU, helping them on their path to a better future.
In 2025, expanding on the project, adapting to current building codes and prioritizing the student’s school year, the Warrior Village Project transitioned from building cottages to building tiny homes. The tiny homes can be classified as ADUs in California’s building code, providing more opportunities for placement of the homes. The smaller homes also provide a way for students to see the project from start to finish throughout the school year, which is a win for the education piece
of the project. Eventually, the Warrior Village Project aims to enroll more high schools, enabling them to build 12 tiny homes per year, with the intent to build pocket communities throughout San Diego County, each consisting of 12 tiny homes, with a community center focusing on the needs of homeless veterans.
Timber Products is a proud supporter of the Warrior Village Project. Having been a donor during the initial cottage builds, we were pleased to participate again this school year with the new tiny homes. Timber Products donated 46 sheets of prefinished Maple plywood to be used in the cabinetry of the homes. “We are excited to participate in the opportunity to help young people learn about wood products and help veterans,” said David Smith, VP of Panel Sales. Sales Manager Mark Herbert coordinated the donation through his customer, Brad Irvine, Manager of Saroyan Lumber, who facilitated the logistics of getting the panels to the local San Diego county schools.
We are looking forward to seeing this year’s tiny homes!
This article has been paraphrased from the Warrior Village Project website and newsletters, for more information visit warriorvillageproject.com
