ONE OF THE COTTAGES AT TRIUMPH VILLAGE in Tyler is pictured. Triumph Village will provide housing and drug and alcohol recovery services to homeless men.

Hiway 80 Rescue Mission’s Triumph Village, a community at 12781 Texas Highway 64 West, provides affordable housing for men receiving help.

Triumph Village is the second location for those participating in Hiway 80’s New Creation Discipleship Program. The other location is in Longview. The Christian-based program works to help those in need address life-controlling addictions.

This is a supportive housing option that provides help for residents while they progress into independent living, said information on the organization’s website. It offers the opportunity for the men to concentrate on the serious work of transforming their lives, through classes that include financial literacy and job readiness, while growing their relationships with the Lord and building solid foundations for their future.

Through the Affordable Housing Program and assistance from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas and Austin Bank in Tyler, Hiway 80 has received a grant for the project.

Plans call for building as many as six cottages that will serve as group homes for men as well as a chapel and welcome center that will double as a group dining facility.

Eric Burger, executive director of Hiway 80, said Triumph Village will be an important part of its services.

“(There are guys who) have gone through our program in Longview, but they’re from here,” he said. “We really want them grounded in their own community, in their own church, with a mentor and a sponsor.

“When you can change someone from addicted to a godly father and godly mother that’s pretty exciting,” he said. “We took down a building today, but we really started the building process of restoring lives.”

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