|
Nov 12
|
Internet café opens at Utica veterans center
By Emerson Clarridge, Observer-Dispatch
Posted Nov 07, 2009 @ 08:31 PM
William Fonda of Utica mingles during the grand opening of the Central new York Veterans Outreach Center’s “The Bunker” internet cafe in Utica, Saturday, November 7, 2009. Dave Londres / Observer-Dispatch
UTICA — When he returned from Iraq in early 2005, Army veteran Gary Matt was quickly caught in labyrinthine bureaucracy. Medical appointments often sent the 30-year-old Utica man to Syracuse. “Even just going out to Rome is a pain,” he said.
Matt’s experience is typical of the disarray that meets former military men and women once they’ve left the battlefield and returned home, said Army veteran Vincent Scalise, who served with Matt. “The government does what they can,” he said. Yet often, he said, the assistance falls short.
To ease the transition to civilian life, Scalise began year ago to head an effort to convert the former 87,000-square-foot YMCA building on Washington Street in Utica into a single-stop veterans’ service clearinghouse that offers advice on legal matters, employment assistance and counseling. Many of the services already are available at the Central New York Veterans Outreach Center, and construction began last week on 15 transitional housing units – apartments for veterans struggling to find a place to live – that Scalise said he hopes will be ready in mid-2010.
The center’s most recent addition is a first-floor coffee shop and Internet café called The Bunker, which celebrated its grand opening Saturday night to a steady flow of patrons. Computers will be available from early morning to late at night so veterans can fill out online forms for Veterans Administration assistance and access the Internet for other purposes. The space will be open to veterans and nonveterans.
“I want people from all different walks of life,” Scalise said. Jessica Perusse, the center’s head social worker, said “it’s a very relaxing, calm space.” A formal flag-raising, ribbon-cutting and open house is scheduled for Wednesday, Veteran’s Day.
|
Oct 02
|
Small Items Make Soldiers’ Day
Guilford Courier – October 02, 2008
Small items that make a soldier’s day are sought by the Guilford VFW Ladies’ Auxiliary. The group hopes to send hundreds of items, from baby wipes to power bars, shampoo to snacks, to Connecticut troops in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
“They can really use the usual items like travel-sized shampoo as well as snacks, puzzle books, and other items to occupy their leisure time,” said Guilford VFW Ladies’ Auxiliary President Gayle Molloy-Barbour.
VFW Donations
Items collected will be sent to Connecticut Army National Guard members deployed from the 1109th AVCRAD (Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot) out of Groton, said Molloy-Barbour.
“The specific unit we’ll be supporting is the 1109th AVCRAD, though we will also be mailing to any deployed local troops we are notified of. If anyone has a friend or family member whom they would like us to mail to, they can contact us to add them to the list,” she said.
Donations can be left at the Guilford VFW building on Mill Road or at Madison Carpet Shop on the Boston Post Road (just over the Guilford/Madison town line). Madison Carpet Shop is operated by the (John) Fonda family, which has teamed with the Guilford VFW to run collection drives for local troops over the past several years.
“I can’t say enough about the Fonda family and their willingness to help the troops and the VFW,” said Molloy-Barbour. “Not only have they done these collections several times, but they’ve also joined our group in going to the West Haven VA hospital to run a recreational bingo game in the Blind Center there. Our veterans could use more families like this one, to give so unselfishly of their time and energy.” (…)
Care package items can be dropped off daily at the Guilford VFW on Mill Road from 1 to 9 p.m. or at Madison Carpet Shop during business hours, 26 Boston Post Road, Madison. To make a donation, checks made out to Guilford VFW Ladies’ Auxiliary can be sent c/o Gayle Molloy-Barbour, 11 Allen Place, New Haven 06512. For more info, call 203-467-2868.