Bryan Wille wants everyone – not just veterans – to know about the Plymouth Area Veterans Center.
“It’s my passion,” said Willie, who is site manager at the facility, which opened its doors at 20 North Park Ave. in October. “I absolutely love doing this.”
“Everything that the state of Massachusetts will offer a veteran, we want to be able to provide that here in the center,” said Wille, a Navy veteran.
Those services include help with housing, employment, finances, and health care through the Veterans Administration, disability claims, mental health care, and education. It’s funded by the state Executive Office of Veterans Services.
Volunteers of America Massachusetts, which runs the center, also receives federal funding for its homeless veteran reintegration and incarcerated veteran transition programs. The programs connect veterans with job opportunities and provide them with training to become certified nurse assistants. It also offers training, clothing, and tools to veterans who want to work in the trades, such as carpentry. VoA collaborates with MassHire to connect veterans with training.
Additional funding come from the Veterans Administration for Supportive Services for Veteran Families, a program that helps veterans find permanent housing. Some of the staff members involved in that program work out of the Plymouth center.
A key advantage of having a center in town is that veterans can get help with several issues in one visit. For example, they might need assistance with housing and finding a job at the same time.
On any given day, anywhere from four to 15 people from VoA, the VA, and other organizations are at the Plymouth center to offer assistance.
Wille said he also wants the center to be a place for veterans who may not need any help but are simply looking for camaraderie.
“Within the veteran community, I believe it’s key for us to have that peer-to-peer [connection] because nobody can quite understand what we went through,” he said. “For us to be able to sit down and have conversations over a cup of coffee, over a doughnut, over a pizza or some wings during a football game, [it] allows a person to release a lot of that and be able to go about their daily business and continue being a successful citizen.”
The center’s central location draws a fair number of walk-ins – 160 or so in December, said Kyle Palmstrom, a Marine veteran who is program director for veteran families for VoA Massachusetts.
Kalstrom wants to encourage veterans to serve the community by forming a core group of volunteers to help nonprofits in the area, such as Habitat for Humanity.
The center also offers courses and programs meant to connect veterans with one another.
It’s already hosted a veterans’ business bootcamp conducted by the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce and is planning to host another one on Feb. 11, Wille said.
Rifles to Rods, a nonprofit that brings veterans together through fishing, ran a saltwater-fly tying workshop at the center and has scheduled another one for Feb. 22. The plan is to hold a workshop every month.
And the enter has been approached by the Marine Corps League of Plymouth about possible events to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Marine Corps, the 80th anniversary of the World War II battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and the 220th anniversary of the battle of Tripoli this year. It’s also involved in planning for the first Marine Corps ball in Plymouth.
There’s even more happening – in December, the center hosted a meeting between U.S. Senator Edward Markey and 10 veterans to discuss the challenges of transitioning from active-duty military service to veteran status. Markey’s office indicated interest in holding such events quarterly, according to Wille.
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org.