Volunteers of America Receives Million Dollar Grant to Serve Veterans
For immediate release: June 4, 2015
Contact: Jordan Kellerman
720-264-3333
717-387-0955
jkellerman@voacolorado.org
DENVER– Volunteers of America announced today that it has received a $1 million Daniels Fund grant to support its Veteran Services Center and increase Veteran access to vital services.
The Bill Daniels Veteran Services Center will house up to 20 Veteran-serving organizations with the goal of more quickly and efficiently delivering necessary services to Veteran families. The $2.1 million renovation project, located at 1247 Santa Fe Drive, is expected to be completed later this month. Once open, the center will be a convenient location for Veterans to access housing, employment, legal services, education, mental health services, U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) benefits, public benefits, volunteering opportunities, peer support, and financial literacy training all in one spot.
“This grant will enable our program to bring some of the most frequently needed Veteran services under one roof. There are countless organizations that are designed to support service members, Veterans, and their families; however, too often time, distance, and access prevent Veterans from truly getting the help they need at the moment they need it. The collaborative process at the Bill Daniels Veteran Services Center will mean more Veterans in need will be impacted by the generous programs in our community,” said Dianna Kunz, President and CEO of Volunteers of America Colorado.
To ensure the center is fully funded and to engage a wider scope of support from the community, Daniels Fund will provide a $500,000 capital grant and the remaining $500,000 will be a challenge grant that will require a match of $500,000 from the community.
“We are so grateful to the Daniels Fund and their generous matching grant that challenges others in the community to commit $500,000 to the center. This is really an open invitation for other individuals and organizations to join in supporting this incredible center and know that their dollar will go even further,” Kunz said.
“The Bill Daniels Veteran Services Center will completely change the way veterans receive human services in Colorado,” said Brenton Hutson, Volunteers of America Division Director of Veteran Services. “The beautiful, carefully planned building will ensure that veterans and their families are able to access the services and resources they seek, in a manner which underscores the value that the Denver Metropolitan community places on their service to our nation. This means a wide-spectrum of high-quality services provided at one location, so that the constant shuffling from place to place and provider to provider can be minimized for those that we seek to honor.”
The Daniels Fund, established by cable television pioneer and decorated war veteran Bill Daniels, is a private charitable foundation dedicated to making life better for the people of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming through its grants program, scholarship program, and ethics initiative. Visit DanielsFund.org to learn more.
For more information about the Bill Daniels Veteran Services Center or to make a contribution, visit www.voacolorado.org/vsc.
ABOUT VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA
Volunteers of America is a national, nonprofit, faith-based organization dedicated to helping those in need live healthy, safe and productive lives. Since 1896, our ministry of service has supported and empowered America's most vulnerable groups, including the frail elderly, people with disabilities, at-risk youth, homeless individuals and women and their children escaping domestic violence. For more information about Volunteers of America, visit www.voacolorado.org
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