The vision of Marion County’s Veterans Resource Center is one step closer to realization, thanks to a partnership between the Marion County Board of County Commissioners and Veterans Helping Veterans, Inc. that was made official during Tuesday’s commission meeting. This unique partnership will provide the county’s military community – more than 45,000 veterans strong – a one-stop-shop for obtaining services and assistance.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Marion County Commission Chairman Kathy Bryant and Hank Whittier, Executive Director of Veterans Helping Veterans, Inc., signed a lease agreement and a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) agreement to provide the organization space to operate in a county building and funding for renovations to that building.
The organization’s new home is the future Veterans Resource Center, currently an old bowling alley on Silver Springs Boulevard located next to the Marion County Public Library headquarters. The county purchased the bowling alley with proceeds from the sale of the former Marion County Utilities building and in December 2015, approved renovations to provide space for both the Marion County Veterans Services department and Veterans Helping Veterans, Inc. In January 2016, the commission approved using $500,000 in 2015-2016 CDBG funds to renovate the area dedicated for use by Veterans Helping Veterans, Inc. The lease agreement is for 20 years with a renewal opportunity for another 20 years.
“This Veterans Resource Center is the first of its kind in the state of Florida,” said Chairman Bryant, “and this commission is so glad to be able to support those who have given us the opportunity to enjoy the freedoms we experience every day.”
“This partnership will not only enable us to serve veterans better, but also will allow veterans agencies to work more in unison with each other to provide better service,” said Whittier. “A lot of people really rolled up their sleeves to get this project done; our staff and board members, the Marion County Commission, and Marion County Tax Collector George Albright were all instrumental in making this happen.”
Marion County Facilities Management is overseeing the renovations to the building, which are slated for completion in late 2016 or early 2017. Crews are currently working on the demolition phase of the project.