I know we have not posted much lately. Not a lot of news. Nothing really to post. The new buildings continue to be assembled. Did not see any of the exterior stuff up yet, but it looks like all are framed in and work is progressing.
As for the Train Station. There is talk of turning the NCO club into a museum covering the history of the GR Vets home thru the years. After the new home is built the train station will undergo an upkeep and restoration period. The clothing room and the bait shop will then return to it.
The old VA Clinic behind the existing home, has become a church! Yes they finally got an occupant, and it seems to be working well.
I was talking to one of our state representatives assistants a week ago about the future of the home and how it is going to be ran and if there was going to be a Domiciliary unit (Dom unit) or not. I was told there would not be one. So I had to ask why?
For the first time, someone gave me a proper and informed answer. In a nut shell, there is no longer a need for one.
Mismanagement of the last unit, has contributed to this decision. When Dom Unit was in the Rankin building it was supposed to be transitional housing, with a limited time. Vets would be allowed to be in Dom while they worked to re-arrange their life affairs after say, a major accident or some other life changing event. The goal was to have them rejoin society, and not make living at the home a lifetime experience. But there are some in the Dom unit that have been there for decades.
With local government focused on eliminating the homeless veteran problem in Kent County, the HUD-VASH program office on Century Ave, along with Community Rebuilders and other such places helping veterans become self sufficient and into a stable environment with steady resources to maintain themselves, there is no longer a need for the Dom Unit. It will be phased out over the course of the next few years.
This will allow the new home to focus on veterans that need nursing care, both long and short term.
The current buildings will be used for other things, one of which might be the adult daycare center that wanted to move into the old VA Clinic, but could not work out a deal. If this happened, it would make good use of the current buildings, and our own veterans could go there too, for daily activities. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.
I for one, agree with this vision.
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