Shiprock veterans group rebuilds site for housing plan
Special to the Times | Donovan Quintero
Army veteran Paul George, from left, Marine Corps veteran Lester Light, Rosie Foster, Wil Foster and Vern R. Lee stand May 16 inside a long-vacant Shiprock industrial building that the Northern Agency Veterans Organization is renovating for a planned affordable housing manufacturing site.
WINDOW ROCK
A nonprofit veterans group hopes to turn a long-vacant Shiprock industrial building into a manufacturing site for affordable housing materials.
Inside the 51-year-old building, a small group of veterans recently turned on a string of newly restored lights and looked over a cavernous, freshly drywalled floor they hope will one day anchor a home-building operation for veterans in the Four Corners area.
The Northern Agency Veterans Organization, a federally recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit, holds a 25-year business-site lease on the roughly 30,000-square-foot building, which it secured from the Navajo Nation after years of planning interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The group says it has been cleaning, drywalling, painting and repairing the structure largely through volunteer work, with a long-term goal of manufacturing energy-efficient homes for veterans, surviving spouses and eventually the public.
Old building, new use
“Why do we depend on Navajo Nation to get our benefits? Let’s do something for ourselves,” said Vern R. Lee, who has guided much of the organization’s planning.
To read the full article, please see the June 4, 2026, edition of the Navajo Times.
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