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Homeless Army veteran James “Jimmy” Palmiter holds on to his dog, Fifi, as he checks out a furnished apartment at Potter's Lane in Midway City on Wednesday. Potter's Lane combines three 8-by-20-foot shipping containers to create 480-square-foot studio apartments for homeless veterans. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Visitors to Potter's Lane walk past a giant flag inside the complex. It's the nation's first permanent housing for the homeless built with shipping containers in Midway City. The 8-by-20-foot containers used in the project were supplied by GrowthPoint Structures, a Los Angeles-based firm that has built schools and custom homes from cargo containers that once carried dry goods. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

New studio apartments at Potter's Lane are sponsored by people who donated $5,000 to cover the costs of furnishings. The complex is the nation's first permanent housing for the homeless built with shipping containers in Midway City. The 8-by-20-foot containers used in the project were supplied by GrowthPoint Structures, a Los Angeles-based firm that has built schools and custom homes from cargo containers that once carried dry goods. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The inside of a new apartment at Potter's Lane on Jackson Street - the complex is the nation's first permanent housing for the homeless built with shipping containers in Midway City. The 8-by-20-foot containers used in the project were supplied by GrowthPoint Structures, a Los Angeles-based firm that has built schools and custom homes from cargo containers that once carried dry goods. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The inside of a new apartment at Potter's Lane on Jackson Street - the complex is the nation's first permanent housing for the homeless built with shipping containers in Midway City, California, February 8, 2017. The 8-by-20-foot containers used in the project were supplied by GrowthPoint Structures, a Los Angeles-based firm that has built schools and custom homes from cargo containers that once carried dry goods. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The Potter's Lane complex in Midway City has 16 fully furnished studio apartments. The complex is said to be the nation's first permanent housing for the homeless built with shipping containers. Fifteen of the 480-square-foot units are earmarked for homeless veterans. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Potter's Lane on Jackson Street - the complex is the nation's first permanent housing for the homeless built with shipping containers in Midway City. The 8-by-20-foot containers used in the project were supplied by GrowthPoint Structures, a Los Angeles-based firm that has built schools and custom homes from cargo containers that once carried dry goods. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Army veteran Kenneth Salazar listens as Donna Gallup, president and CEO of American Family Housing, addresses visitors during a ceremony celebrating the completion of Potter's Lane in Midway City. Potter's Lane combines three 8-by-20-foot shipping containers to create a 480-square-foot studio apartment for each of 15 homeless veterans. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Donna Gallup, president and CEO of American Family Housing, addresses visitors during a ceremony celebrating the completion of Potter's Lane in Midway City. Potter's Lane combines three 8-by-20-foot shipping containers to create a 480-square-foot studio apartment for each of 15 homeless veterans. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Donna Gallup, president and CEO of American Family Housing, listens as members of the military speak out Potter's Lane during a ceremony celebrating its completion in Midway City on Wednesday. Potter's Lane combines three 8-by-20-foot shipping containers to create a 480-square-foot studio apartment for each of 15 homeless veterans. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Donna Gallup, center, president and CEO of American Family Housing, is joined by others while cutting the ribbon at Potter's Lane in Midway City on Wednesday. The 8-by-20-foot containers used in the project were supplied by GrowthPoint Structures, a Los Angeles-based firm that has built schools and custom homes from cargo containers that once carried dry goods. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Potter's Lane is the nation's first permanent housing for the homeless built with shipping containers in Midway City. The 8-by-20-foot containers used in the project were supplied by GrowthPoint Structures, a Los Angeles-based firm that has built schools and custom homes from cargo containers that once carried dry goods. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Donna Gallup, center, president and CEO of American Family Housing, is joined by others while cutting the ribbon at Potter's Lane is the nation's first permanent housing for the homeless built with shipping containers in Midway City. The 8-by-20-foot containers used in the project were supplied by GrowthPoint Structures, a Los Angeles-based firm that has built schools and custom homes from cargo containers that once carried dry goods. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Donna Gallup, center, president and CEO of American Family Housing, gets high-fives as she is joined by others while cutting the ribbon at Potter's Lane is the nation's first permanent housing for the homeless built with shipping containers in Midway City. The 8-by-20-foot containers used in the project were supplied by GrowthPoint Structures, a Los Angeles-based firm that has built schools and custom homes from cargo containers that once carried dry goods. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Potter's Lane on Jackson Street is the nation's first permanent housing for the homeless built with shipping containers in Midway City. The 8-by-20-foot containers used in the project were supplied by GrowthPoint Structures, a Los Angeles-based firm that has built schools and custom homes from cargo containers that once carried dry goods. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

The front facade of Potter's Lane on Jackson Street is the nation's first permanent housing for the homeless built with shipping containers in Midway City. The 8-by-20-foot containers used in the project were supplied by GrowthPoint Structures, a Los Angeles-based firm that has built schools and custom homes from cargo containers that once carried dry goods. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Army veteran Kenneth Salazar looks over one of the apartment units at Potter's Lane in Midway City. Potter's Lane combines three 8-by-20-foot shipping containers to create 480-square-foot studio apartments for homeless veterans. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Homeless Army veteran James “Jimmy” Palmiter snuggles with his dog, Fifi, during a ceremony for the nearly-complete Potter's Lane complex in Midway City on Wednesday. Potter's Lane combines three 8-by-20-foot shipping containers to create 480-square-foot studio apartments for homeless veterans. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Homeless Army veteran Jimmy Palmiter holds on to his dog, Fifi as he stands outside the nearly-complete Potter's Lane complex in Midway City, California, February 8, 2017. Potter's Lane combines three 20-foot shipping containers to create 480-square-foot studio apartment for homeless veterans. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

MIDWAY CITY – Dignitaries commanded the microphone Wednesday at the unveiling of the nearly completed Potter’s Lane container housing complex, but James “Jimmy” Palmiter’s words from the back of the crowd spoke volumes.

“Thank you!” Palmiter, 59, called out several times as he listened to more than a half-dozen speakers praise the innovation it took to create 16 studio-apartment units from refurbished cargo containers as housing for homeless veterans like him.

Potter’s Lane, built and managed by the nonprofit American Family Housing, is said to be the first example in the nation of a multi-unit permanent housing complex fashioned from cargo containers.

“Thinking outside of the box is what we have to do to get these veterans housed,” Timothy Wilson, homeless veterans health care coordinator for the Department of Veterans Affairs in Long Beach, told a crowd of about 300 visitors.

At Potter’s Lane, the “box” is each of the 8-by-20-foot containers that once transported dry goods to California ports but have been converted into insulated living quarters by the Los Angeles-based GrowthPoint Structures. Three modified containers make up each studio apartment.

Fifteen of the 480-square-foot units at the two-story Jackson Street complex are earmarked for homeless veterans; an on-site manager will occupy the other unit. Amenities at Potter’s Lane include a common room and a central patio with a barbecue and a garden with raised beds to grow vegetables. Pets are allowed.

Rents will be subsidized, with wraparound services offered through the VA and Orange County’s Illumination Foundation, a nonprofit that, along with the VA, is placing the veterans in the housing units at Potter’s Lane.

“Oh, I love it,” Paul Leon, Illumination Foundation founder and president, said before the formal speeches began. “I feel this is going to be the campus model.”

Illumination Foundation will soon be using space at American Family Housing’s headquarters next door to Potter’s Lane to provide as many as 25 homeless individuals recovering from health emergencies with recuperative after-care, Leon said.

Palmiter, a Vietnam War-era veteran who served stateside, got his first look at the fully furnished units Wednesday, along with his dog, Fifi, and invited guests who included state and local officials, active-duty service members, heads of local nonprofits, and volunteers and donors.

“I can’t believe all the stuff they put in there,” said Palmiter, who moved last month from his van into temporary quarters at American Family Housing’s main building when the container units were still bare bones.

“Did you see the coffeemaker? It’s gigantic.”

Each unit is furnished with a double bed, easy chair, dresser and flat-screen TV, small dining table and fully equipped kitchen. A women’s church group in Westminster contributed handmade red, white and blue-themed quilts.

Move-in day, expected to take place next week, awaits final inspections and an occupancy permit from the county.

“Who would have guessed that Orange County would be the leader in this nation, on this front?” Donna Gallup, president and chief executive of American Family Housing, said in her remarks to the crowd, pausing to wait out the applause. “But we are.”

Yet a pair of protesters held signs on the sidewalk nearby.

Army veteran Chris Mogelberg and his wife, Renee Genel Valdez, a former paid assistant to Gallup, said they were wrongfully evicted last fall from another AFH property after complaining about the condition of their apartment and other alleged irregularities.

The couple say they have scrambled to pay for motel rooms, where they now stay with their young daughter.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7793 or twalker@ocregister.com or on Twitter @TellTheresa

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