Housing center for wounded vets opens on college campus
Talk about a great idea whose time has come.
The nation’s first transitional housing and rehabilitation center for wounded combat veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan is scheduled to open its doors in January. Located on the campus of Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, Mass., the Northeast Veteran Training and Rehabilitation Center will provide combat-wounded veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and other injuries and their families with access to housing, campus services and academic programs – all free of charge – while the veteran participates in therapy, rehabilitation and community reintegration programs.
The $8 million center is being constructed by the Massachusetts-based nonprofit Veteran Homestead and will consist of a rehabilitation complex and a condominium community of 10 two-bedroom apartments. Ten additional housing units are expected to be built in 2010.
The program is open to Iraq or Afghanistan veterans from any state or territory. For more information, contact program director Michelle Wilmott at (978) 353-0234, or visit www.mwcc.edu/info/newsarchive/news102009.html, www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=136995204207, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTvF5-XXwBA or www.veteranhomestead.org/facilities/nvtrc.html.
