The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Expansion planned for Valor Home
Plans in place to add 12 housing units
More help is coming to Lorain for veterans in need.
On Sept. 28, Valor Home staff, residents and supporters gathered to break ground for a dozen new transitional housing units for female and male veterans.
They also launched the Hope for Heroes Campaign, an effort to raise the final $212,500 needed to pay for the project, which will cost about $1.1 million.
Ravenna-based Family & Community Services Inc. began planning Valor Home in 2010, said Matt Slater, director of veterans services for the group.
After several years of work, the project came together, opening in December 2014 with 30 units in 221 W. 21st St.
“This community always rises to the occasion,” Slater said. “This is what it takes to create actual solutions to problems that sometimes seem
intractable, like homelessness.”
Slater asked the audience members to look at who was there.
The group had high school students from the Aces, or Achievement through Community Education and Support, teen leadership program.
Team Depot, made up of Home Depot staff, and Lorain store manager Scott Sypniewski presented a check for $150,000 from the home improvement supply company.
Valor Home residents were out with Lorain County Commissioner Lori Kokoski and Lorain Ward 5 City Councilwoman JoAnne Moon.
The day included a group motorcycle ride from the Strongsville Home Depot to Valor Home, so, American Legion Riders came out, as did the Motorcycle Committee of the United Auto Workers Local 2000.
“This is what it takes to create solutions to these problems — whole community effort,” Slater said. “It’s not just the government. It’s not just private businesses. It’s not just a nonprofit. It’s the entire community working together to create better, stronger, safer and more importantly kinder housing communities.
“This is an outstanding day,” he said.
Home Depot has committed a half-billion dollars to support veteran causes by 2025, Sypniewski said.
“Locally at the store, we’re always looking to impact veterans and work on their homes specifically to try and improve their way of life,” he said. Just in the last few weeks, Team Depot finished a complete remodeling for a kitchen and bathroom for a Lorain veteran, Sypniewski said.
He and Home Depot worker Scot Rhoda coordinated the local grant application for Valor Home.
“We were excited,” Sypniewski said.
Rhoda created Ride with Valor, a nonprofit that researches and prepares grant requests for veterans. Rhoda, who served as an Army airborne medic, transferred from the Strongsville store to Lorain to be closer to veterans who need help.
“Valor Home, it’s a great organization,” Rhoda said. “To be able to lift somebody up, put them back on their feet, that’s huge.”
He also credited Home Depot and his colleagues for calculating material costs for the renovations needed to create the new apartments.
The money will help pay for units in two locations, Slater said.
Eight will be at the Central Lorain Professional Building, 2100 Reid Ave., which sits across the street from Valor Home.
Another four for women veterans and their children will be at 205 W. 21st St. Depending on fundraising and construction, Family & Community Services Inc. hopes to have the units open for residents in early 2020, Slater said.
Years ago, women were just 1 percent or 2 percent of the armed forces, said Wayne Malz, who served in the Navy before later reaching rank of sergeant major in the Army National Guard.
Now women make up about 9 percent of the military, said Malz, who also is service officer for the American Legion Post 703 in Parma.
But when they leave the military, their needs may be overlooked, he said.
The project list of amenities includes the residential rooms, a lobby, day room, conference room, reception area, two offices, restrooms, a laundry room and community garden.
Those attending enjoyed a picnic lunch on the lawn of Valor Home.
Some participants also grabbed hard hats and sledgehammers for photos and a ceremonial groundbreaking. But no one swung the hammers because the Valor Home staff noted they don’t yet have the needed permits from the city.
Rhoda noted the veterans events are fun because they tend to bring out great people who want to help.