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City of Lacey expands Lacey Veterans Hub

More space to help vets

Lacey Mayor, Andy Ryder (center), joins community and veteran leaders to officially re-open the doors to the Lacey Veterans Services Hub Oct. 7. Photo credit: Gary Lott

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Thurston County's 30,000 veterans will now have even more space to seek assistance and resources with the newly expanded Lacey Veterans Services Hub.

The City of Lacey officially dedicated its expanded Veterans Services Hub during a public ceremony held Friday, Oct. 7.

"We have 32,000 veterans in Thurston County and add to that the approximately 100,000 family members and you easily realize that this is truly a military city," said Washington Department of Veterans Affairs Director, Alfie Alvarado-Ramos, to dozens in attendance that arrived to tour the facility, as well as show support.

The Lacey Veterans Services Hub has operated in about 1,200 square feet since October 2014 but has expanded with adjacent space becoming available on the South Puget Sound Community College Campus in Lacey.

As the number of veteran services providers continue to grow, the importance to centralize these services has become even greater.

The Lacey Veterans Services Hub is a 4,500 square-foot facility located on South Puget Sound Community College's Lacey Campus at 4232 6th Ave. SE in Lacey.

This centralized hub of veteran services is a joint-undertaking between the City of Lacey and numerous South Puget Sound veteran services providers.

During the dedication ceremony, community and political leaders joined together to cut the ribbon and re-open the Lacey Veterans Services Hub's doors to the Thurston County community.

"As the daughter of a World War II veteran, I believe we have a responsibility to make sure that when our servicemembers return home, we support them, just as they have bravely supported and protected our country," a representative for Sen. Patty Murray said, reading remarks on the behalf of Sen. Patty Murray who toured the expansion earlier in September. "A critical part of this, is connecting veterans to transition services right in their own communities."

Any veteran, or family member, that comes through the front doors of the Veterans Services Hub will be met with a plethora of resources and veteran-supporting organizations all joined together under one roof.

This collaboration of veteran services will be available to offer assisting services to the servicemembers and veterans that have earned these benefits.

Organizations such as American Legion, Catholic Community Services, Federal Way Vet Center, Goodwill Operation Good Jobs, GRuB, Metropolitan Development Council, Mission Continues, National Guard, Northwest Justice Project, SideWalk, Tacoma Vet Center, Thurston County Food Bank, Thurston County Veterans Assistance Fund, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Vet Corps, Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs, WorkSource Thurston County, and 9line make up the expected two dozen partners available to offer resources, training and assistance services at the Lacey Veterans Services Hub.

"This hub will help ensure that veterans in Thurston County have all the care and support they need to succeed. I am proud to be your partner in this project and in the United States Senate.  It is with many thanks to hard working community leaders, activists and veterans working with our federal local resources that this project has become a reality.  I look forward to our continued collaboration to provide efficient and effective services to our nation's veterans," a representative also added on behalf of Sen. Murray.

Services to be offered at the Lacey Veterans Services Hub will be comprised of housing, education, employment, nutrition, healthcare screening, counseling, federal benefits and other assistance resources.

"The Veterans Services Hub and its outstanding service providers are truly filling a tremendous need," Lacey Mayor Andy Ryder said, adding "We've assisted nearly three hundred veterans in the new space since mid-August, and we're still ramping up operations."

The Thurston County community has joined together to better serve the veterans that call this county home, and according to Congressman Denny Heck, this is a valuable benefit to many.

"The more we help our veterans the better our community is," said Congressman Denny Heck, who also represents Thurston County in Congress.  "We do this because they earned it and they deserve it and because we owe it to them, but we do it because we're all so much better off when we do."

For more information on the Lacey Veterans Services Hub, contact Stephen Kirkman, Lacey Public Affairs, at SKirkman@ci.lacey.wa.us or 360.456.7788.

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