Rumshock Veterans Village nears completion in Port Jervis

Four tiny homes are already in place on East Main Street in Port Jervis, and Rumshock Veterans Village is moving from construction into its final push toward occupancy. The project marked a ribbon cutting on Flag Day, and the first veterans are expected to begin moving in by November.

The village is planned as more than a row of small houses. Its design calls for 10 tiny homes, a veteran community center, and a hydroponic garden and work area for veterans. Those pieces are meant to give unhoused veterans not just a roof, but a place to build routine, connect with one another and take on work tied to the site.

The buildout has continued through a difficult transition for the family behind it. Bill Whetsel, the founder and driving force behind the project, died on February 21 at age 59. Tyler Whetsel has taken over the leadership role and is carrying the work forward as the site nears completion.

The project has been years in the making. In 2020, the Rumshock Veterans Foundation secured $400,000 through the office of then-State Senator Jen Metzger to buy land for what was then being described as a veterans village, and the idea grew out of an Orange County leadership meeting where someone described a veteran living in the woods. What was once a concept is now a physical site with homes, poured foundations and a clear move-in target.

The need remains substantial. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said its January 2025 point-in-time count found 32,495 veterans experiencing homelessness nationwide, the lowest total since the federal government began reporting veteran homelessness in 2009 and down 56.1% from 2010. The VA says its homeless programs combine housing, health care, employment and education assistance, a model that matches the village’s emphasis on shelter, community and work.

For Port Jervis, the historic city at the junction of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the project has become a visible test of whether veteran-housing promises can be converted into measurable results. The Rumshock site is no longer an idea on paper. It now has homes in place, more foundations coming and a November opening window that will show whether Orange County’s veterans can finally begin moving in.