Veterans Community Project hosted the grand opening of its new Veterans Outreach Center.
Hundreds of people came out to the 8900 Troost Avenue location.
“When this building became available, it just became a great opportunity to start providing the wrap around services that we made a commitment to provide as veterans as well,” Veterans Community Project co-founder Chris Stout said.
The center will provide services for veterans including professional counseling, case management, mentoring and legal services.
“So some of our vets have seen things and done things that people really just wouldn't understand, and it's not that they aren't able to get themselves out of situations,” Veterans Community Project co-founder Mark Soomon said. “Sometimes they just need a little bit of help and so being veterans ourselves, we understand, we speak the same language, we have a common things that have been seen and done.”
By working together, veteran and community organizations represented at the center hope to make a real difference in the veteran community.
“The homeless numbers, statistics here compared to the nation are quite similar,” Executive Director for Street Medicine KC Jae Edgar Bennett said. “So one percent of veterans serve, but yet the homeless population is 10 percent of homeless vets, so that's 10 to one.”
Vets seeing the facility for the first time say it will make a real difference.
“It made me feel great. This community has needed it for so long because there's so many homeless veterans around,” Vietnam veteran Patrick Walden said. “And this organization seems to put the first and get the resources for them.”
“I'm very grateful that it's here, and I think it's going to serve the people from time to time and I'm going to see what I can do to help,” Vietnam veteran Bonnie Ranbow said.
The center will be open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and the first and third Saturdays of each month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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