Not Your Ordinary Landlord: Jeremy Bellamy Creates Housing for Homeless Vets

He’s a big man with a big heart – and all the respect in the world for American military veterans who have served our country. Jeremy Bellamy feels for those individuals when they come upon hard times and find themselves without a place to live.

Whatever the reason for a veteran falling behind on rent or a mortgage doesn’t change the fact that he or she stepped up to serve the nation when needed; and Bellamy believes it’s an honor to pay them back in some way. He’s one of the landlords United Way Priority Veteran frequently works with in Birmingham to provide affordable housing to homeless vets.

Shared Housing Is a Simple Solution that Works

Bellamy has a number of houses that he rents out as shared housing. “Thanks to Mr. Bellamy, veterans are able to get an affordable, furnished room – along with two or three other tenants — in a house with all utilities paid,” said Priority Veteran Director Lula Skowronek. “He offers month-to-month leases and can often let someone move in within a few days. This is great for some of our low-income veterans who have a hard time finding an apartment because they have a bad credit score or work history,” she said.

The concept of shared housing has become Bellamy’s passion. It’s rooted in the process of renovating and revitalizing property in the city where he grew up; and as a native of Birmingham, he enjoys bringing new life to neighborhoods. But the big payoff of shared housing for him is being able to “provide basic living standards with affordability for those in need,” he said. “Making housing affordable means tenants can live comfortably and be self-sufficient.”

Serving Those Who Served

As for working with veterans, Bellamy finds the whole experience uniquely rewarding. “I’ve been afforded the opportunity to meet so many different people who have served in different branches of the military throughout the world, yet they all share a common sense of honor, pride and dignity found only in our U.S. servicemen and women,” he said. “To me, it’s a great honor to serve them.”

Learn more about help for homeless and at-risk veterans at PriorityVeteran.org.