Old prison holds promise in aiding vets, group states

A group of Arkansas veterans hopes to soon transform a near-defunct prison complex into an enclave for recovering ex-military members.

The 52-acre compound comprising the former Southeast Arkansas Community Corrections Center in Pine Bluff needs north of $10 million in repairs and renovations.

That price tag was enough to prompt the Arkansas Board of Corrections to move the 350-bed operation to a different facility in West Memphis in 2016, but Veterans Villages of America — an Arkansas-based nonprofit — sees a unique opportunity.

In the duplexes that housed corrections officers, this group of veterans sees temporary housing for vulnerable veterans and their families.

In the old infirmary, they see a place for mental health treatment.

In the welding shop, they see “at-risk” veterans receiving vocational training that will equip them for work in the civilian world.

“At some point, these folks were in the military in a structured environment, and they excelled,” said Mark Diggs, a Veterans Villages board member and recipient of two Purple Hearts. “That’s what we want to recapture.”

This vision has Arkansas Community Correction officials — who supervise about 1,300 veterans — excited about the prospect of handing the land over to a nongovernmental organization that will still support the department’s mission.

But Veterans Villages doesn’t plan to target only veterans who are under state supervision for breaking the law; it has a vision to also help those with mental illnesses and substance abuse issues — perhaps those leaving in-treatment programs — homeless veterans and families in transition.

If plans go through, the group will call it Forward Operating Base Hope, mimicking the names of overseas military bases.

The Board of Corrections earlier this year approved

plans to start the first-of-itskind land transfer from the Arkansas Community Correction, the pardon and parole agency, to Veterans Villages of America. More legal work, including legislation in 2019, is needed to formally transfer the property and its more than 30 buildings, but the vision has taken hold.

“We’re excited because we’ve got 1,300 veterans in our population, and we could send our veterans through those transitional services,” said Kevin Murphy, interim Community Correction director.

Veterans Villages is different from most other veterans-centered charities. It doesn’t focus on one type of service. Its mantra is “unity of effort.”

“Our mission is to combine many of the distinctly diverse programs and policies servicing our veterans into a unifying effort, which will improve the economic well-being and quality of life for our veterans,” its mission statement reads. “And to create a unified plan which is replicable throughout the United States.”

Forward Operating Base Hope is just one of several projects the group has in the works. It also has visions of re-purposing struggling rural hospitals, and developing a center of excellence for research and treatment of traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.

When veterans arrive at Forward Operating Base Hope, they’ll undergo extensive screening, checking eligibility for federal veterans benefits, education levels, legal issues and any health problems.

Program participants will have opportunities to work and receive education in a variety of areas ranging from auto mechanics to culinary arts.

By the time veterans are ready to leave, they’ll have reached certain benchmarks, including obtaining housing, a job and a mentor. They’ll also receive any money they’ve earned from working while in the program.

If they “stay clean” for three years, Diggs said, they’ll go before a review board, which will ask the governor for a pardon.

“That’s a heck of a carrot at the end to keep them squared away,” he said. For those that do fall into more trouble — whether legal, financial or otherwise — they’ll have a chance to return to Forward Operating Base Hope for additional assistance.

Several financiers have already approached Veterans Villages, agreeing to support the project once the land is secured. The organization plans to invest about $9 million for upfront renovations.

While the group plans to also apply for grants, it wants to be self-sustaining without them.

Veterans Villages also contends that the projects will be a boost to the local economy, bringing back many of the jobs that were lost when the Community Correction Department moved its operations to West Memphis.

Retired Army Col. Mike Ross, another Veterans Villages board member, said many veterans struggle after their discharged from the military because they go from making life-and-death decisions to civilian life.

Forward Operating Base Hope, he said, can return the structure and purpose they lost after leaving the armed forces.

“They served their country honorably, and I think we owe them the opportunity to get back on track,” Ross said.