About Us
OUR MISSION
To coordinate and expedite high-quality service delivery to Service Members, Veterans, and associated Family of all generations and backgrounds through the strategic co-location and collaboration of Veteran-serving organizations at the Volunteers of America Bill Daniels Veteran Services Center.
Our History
Over the last decade our country has made incredible strides in ensuring there are an abundance of resources dedicated to supporting Veterans. Unfortunately, abundance does not always equate to effectiveness. As a result, Service Members, Veterans, and associated Family were left to shuttle from appointment to appointment, over the course of months or even years. Meanwhile, many were in crisis, whether facing homelessness, physical or mental health concerns, substance abuse issues, or other destabilizing factors.
Volunteers of America and other Veteran Service providers recognized this issue and came together for one stop events, offering a variety of Veteran resources in a single location. Veterans would come in to the event with nothing and leave with an ID, VA Benefits, leads on employment and housing and access to countless other avenues for support. Volunteers of America began to dream of how this kind of one-stop-shop could be available to Veterans every day.
Thanks to a charitable remainder gift annuity donation by Harvey Olmstead, Volunteers of America owned a building that needed a new life and thus the dream of the Veteran Services Center began. Countless generous donors rallied behind the vision of the center, helping raise nearly all of the $2.1 million needed to renovate the existing building into a welcoming space for Veterans and Veteran Service Providers. The Daniels Fund granted $1 million towards the renovation of the center, naming it the Bill Daniels Veteran Services Center.
The Volunteers of America Bill Daniels Veteran Services Center opened in August of 2015 and is the first of its kind, serving Veterans with housing, employment, benefits and support from a variety of Veteran-serving programs all in one location. The beautiful, welcoming center offers Veterans a single place to turn no matter their needs. Since its opening, it has become the go to place for Veterans and their families.
It is our hope that this model will be a building block for our community and the country and, into the future, will transform the way our nation supports those who have bravely served.
Our Vision
While many service initiatives seek to resolve only the immediate crisis, the Volunteers of America Bill Daniels Veteran Services Center serves to provide a continuum of services designed to move people from crisis all the way through to self-sufficiency.