The sound of afterburners can be heard throughout the day from the nearby base at Mather Veterans Village in Rancho Cordova. But for the veterans who now call this place home, they’ll be listening to a new sound soon as construction begins on two new projects next door.

Luckily for current residents, they have double-paned windows.

Phase II and III of Mather Veterans Village broke ground on Tuesday, signaling the start of more transitional and affordable housing options for former servicemembers in the Sacramento region.

“Mather Veterans Village will fill a critical need for veterans and their families in the Rancho Cordova and Sacramento areas by supplying transitional housing and services to homeless veterans and those at-risk of homelessness,” CalVet Secretary Dr. Vito Imbasciani said.

Phase I – completed in August of 2016 – currently provides housing for 50 veterans in apartment-style homes. Now, phase II will add 46 beds as part of a transitional housing program for veterans working toward self-sufficiency.

Phase III will add an additional 50 permanent homes for veterans experiencing or at-risk for homelessness, and their families.

Funding for the construction projects has come from federal, state and local governments, including nearly $12 million from the Veterans Housing and Homelessness Prevention (VHHP) program, which is administered by CalVet, the California Housing and Community Development Department and the California Housing Finance Agency.

“Mather Veterans Village received nearly $12 million dollars of VHHP funding and the entire Mather project will be dedicated to serving veterans and their families who are experiencing homelessness,” Imbasciani pointed out. “So this is a program that clearly delivers tangible relief to a population that needs it the most.”

Phase II and III of the project are expected to be finished sometime in the first quarter of 2019.

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