Formerly homeless veterans living in the Cove At Dundee "tiny house"
development soon will enjoy a park in their neighborhood thanks to efforts
of the Savannah chapter of the National Society of Colonial Dames of
America.

A groundbreaking was held Thursday, on Veterans Day, for leaders of the
Savannah Chapter to announce the Veterans Garden on an area of the tiny
house project that has been deemed unbuildable and for the organization's
landscape designer John McEllen to plant the first tree - a five-gallon live
oak.

Karen Pannell and Laura Reid, chair and vice-chair of the Colonial Dames
Town Committee led the program with a Veterans Day address by Dr. Paul
Pressley.

The mini-park, described by members as one of the more ambitious projects of
the Savannah chapter, will beautify a low area of the grounds on Dundee
Street that has been purchased by the Chatham Savannah Authority for the
Homeless to locate the tiny houses.

CSAH Executive Director Cindy Kelley thanked the club members and said the
park area of the property at one time was a haven for snakes, rodents and an
occasional alligator until it was cleaned out to access a retention pond.
The Colonial Dames project will transcend the low area into a park.

Cove At Dundee began in 2019 as an effort by Kelley and the Homeless
Authority to provide homes for veterans. Twenty-three tiny houses have been
built and leased to formerly homeless veterans and the third phase of 11
houses and second "club house" are currently under construction. The project
has been funded entirely through philanthropic donations from individuals
and organizations and volunteers.


The first three phases of the Cove At Dundee have been fully funded as well
as  infrastructure for all four phases .