Veterans Day ceremony marks completion of $5.6 million Veterans Place multipurpose building

It took six years for Veterans Place to realize its dream of expanding its Larimer campus.

The leaders and board started back then strategizing, planning and raising funds for Operation: Empowering Transitions, constructing a new building to house more homeless veterans and add services. But it faced roadblocks and red tape waiting for the demolition of the dilapidated adjacent properties.

Finally, in March 2023 it could buy those five lots for $20,700 from the Urban Redevelopment Authority, according to a Trib article. Then construction work could begin.

Appropriately, the nonprofit organization selected Veterans Day to cut the ceremonial ribbon on its Multi-Purpose Center, a state-of-the-art facility designed to support homeless veterans with housing, health care and wellness services. This follows completing the renovation of a two-story storage shed, called Project 919 to reflect that structure’s address, last month into the Duquesne Light Workforce Center.

The new three-story structure features eight single-occupancy apartments that increase the nonprofit’s capacity to house 60 veterans as they transition from homelessness, offering them a safe and supportive environment as they work toward stable, independent living, according to a news release. The facility includes a medical office and a wellness center, something the campus did not have for the residents and clients it serves. A meditation and reflection area will be located just outside the building, with a memorial that includes the insignias of all six military branches.

Director of Community Relations and Development Jessica Gilmore said the building’s total cost is close to $5.6 million. Veterans Place had secured a $2 million grant from Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program in 2022, and other major funders included the Colcom and Jack Buncher foundations, W.P. Patterson Charitable Trust, Home Depot Foundation, Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund, Redevelopment Agency of Allegheny County, and U.S. departments of Veteran Affairs and Housing and Urban Development.

Partners from Allegheny Health Network Center for Inclusion Health will provide critical health care services to veterans ineligible for care through the Department of Veterans Affairs, the news release stated. This partnership marks a significant expansion of health care access for the nonprofit’s veterans, bridging gaps and ensuring holistic, veteran-centered care.

“On behalf of AHN and Highmark, we are proud to partner with Veterans Place to expand health care access for veterans in our community. This collaboration will bridge crucial gaps in care and ensure veterans receive the holistic support they need to live healthier lives,” Liz Cuevas, M.D., division chief, AHN Center for Inclusion Health, said in the release.

In addition, Veterans Place has hired two full-time staff members dedicated to providing health care assistance and increasing outreach efforts to veterans and community partners. The positions are supported by Highmark Foundation grant funding.

The new Wellness Center will be equipped with commercial exercise equipment to promote the veterans’ physical and mental well-being, the release explained.

After the ribbon cutting Walmart hosted a Veterans Day celebration, including raffles, food trucks, a caricature artist, a group art project and a visit by Petey the therapy dog. Veterans also could obtain donated clothing, personal hygiene supplies and other items will be available for veterans on site. Volunteers from Walmart assisted with all activities throughout the day.

More than 100 people crowded into the main room where the gym equipment will be located to hear remarks from staff, elected officials and, importantly, veterans on Monday.

Mark Wechsler, chair of the Veterans Place board, attributed the successful project to Bill Goldfarb, M.D., because of his “vision, effort and commitment.” That led to securing the needed state and federal resources, locating grants from other sources, and more. “And it overcame what everybody said, this can’t be done,” Wechlser added.

He thanked the city, the local community and the URA that permitted Veterans Place to “purchase this property for pennies on the dollar.”

Issues with water had made parts of the construction work difficult. Veterans Place Executive Director Kevin Kordzi said in his remarks that when he arrived “we had a hole in the ground that was doubling as a swimming pool.” Kordzi thanked the architects and contractors who worked through those problems, noting that without them, “the building wouldn’t be here.”

Elected officials took turns at the podium and spoke of the successes Veterans Place has behind and ahead of it.

U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, said during her visits she realized what an important resource the nonprofit is for veterans. “It’s an invaluable resource, and it’s helping our veterans live a healthier life in every aspect,” she said.

She recounted how desperate some of the veterans calling into her office can be and stressed the importance of Veterans Place’s mission of “creating a future where every single veteran has a place to live.”

Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato explained that she became familiar with Veterans Place’s work when she was a state representative and a URA board member. “It was an honor to approve the funding and the transfer of property,” she said. “It took some effort, but we got it done.”

That effort included community and government officials at all levels working together over the years and across political ideologies to ensure this investment in Allegheny County veterans. Innamorato said now her proposed budget has committed additional veterans services funding to meet veterans’ needs.  

“We know that need is so great, and there is so much we still have to do to serve the men and women who have served our country,” she said. “As we look towards a vision that we don’t have any vet homelessness that exists in Allegheny County, we rely on strong partners like Veterans Place to guide our efforts throughout Allegheny County.  So I stand with you and your mission to support our vets and build a community that truly cares for those who have sacrificed so much for us.”

State Rep. La’Tasha D. Mayes, D-Morningside, whose district includes the nonprofit’s campus and whose mother was an Army vet, said the building is “a dutiful service to veterans in this community and across the region.”

She said the opening of the new building “will make accessing critical resources easier and more efficient for veterans who are in need as well as expanding Veteran Place’s ability to serve diverse populations.” That includes Black and brown, Indigenous, LBGTQ and transgender veterans.

Mayes said, “No veteran who served should he homeless, unhoused or be housing insecure.” Before presenting a citation, she thanked the nonprofit’s staff. “You are unwavering in your commitment to ending homelessness among veterans who deserve dignity and respect at minimum for their service to our nation,” the state representative said.

State Sen. Devlin Robinson, R-Bridgeville, thanked former executive director Rob Hamilton, who introduced him to Veterans Place almost eight years ago. Noting that small nonprofits can get lost among the larger entities, Robinson called it nimble for two reasons: ensuring 93 cents of every dollar raised goes to direct services and reaching out to help vets individually.

That included bringing winter clothing and sleeping bags to a vet living in a tent in Schenley Park who wouldn’t come to the Larimer campus when staff reached out to him.  And creating specialized housing for a new mother and her child who had nowhere to live.

Pittsburgh City Councilman Khari Mosley, D-Point Breeze North, said he wanted to celebrate the region’s rich history of service to the community, too, and the various levels of government working together to address the housing crisis that is “felt across many communities but felt very acutely in the veterans community.” His father, sculptor Thaddeus Mosley, is a World War II veteran, serving in the South Pacific theater.

State Sen. Lindsey Williams, D-West View, told those in attendance that the best way to honor the sacrifice of veterans is to ensure they receive the benefits and support and help transitioning into a civilian life. “I can’t think of a better place to be to do that than Veterans Place,” she said.   

Dan Gilman, who served as former Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto’s chief of staff, said the project started with Hamilton and Laura Drogowski, founding director of the city’s office of community health and safety, “coming to me and saying look at these [dilapidated] homes” next to Veterans Place that they drove past often.

“That vision is how you get these projects,” he said. “So much of the vision comes from people on the ground who are serving every day.

Then governmental bodies could take over, he said, and they cleared the site.

Gilman, who now works as Duquesne University’s chief of staff, had been asked to return for the ribbon cutting. “To be here today and see this level of support and to hear the stories and know the direct impact this building will have on lives of Pittsburghers and Western Pennsylvanians – and the next steps and opportunities – today is a day of inspiration.”

Two of those stories came from veterans, one a successful Veterans Place client and another who works for the VA health care system in Pittsburgh.

Derek Leon Dennis, an Army veteran, said he came to the Larimer campus two months ago with nowhere to live and no job. “It didn’t matter to the staff,” he said. “They accepted me here, gave me a room of my own, food and clothing, helped me seek and get employment.”

That included working on his resume to update it and making it better. “It helped me gain back hope, hope that I didn’t have before,” Dennis said. “By not being homeless and getting employment, I now can leave here and be a productive citizen of my community. Thank you, Veterans Place, for all you have done for veterans like me.”

Assistant Director of VA Pittsburgh Healthcare Services Jeston Robinson and a fellow Army vet who served in Iraq came to ensure that the founders of Veterans Place, Sidney Singer and the Jewish War Veterans Post 78, were remembered. In 1995 the World War II Army vet started holding meetings at the VA’s Highland Drive Medical Center to work toward purchasing the property and securing the funding to provide housing and other services for veterans.

“I didn’t know him, but I can bear witness to his lasting impact,” Robinson said. “Nearly 15 years after his passing, I have co-workers and colleagues who want to honor him and his perseverance and his commitment to community service and his compassion for fellow veterans.”

The VA team and Veterans Place strive to be steadfast partners, he said, in his memory. “We are so grateful to the board and the team who have stepped forward pick up where Sidney left off and to uphold the organization’s commitment to our deserving veterans. We’re deeply grateful for the foundation he has built and the vision he has set in motion. His dedication is a guiding force for those who follow in this footsteps, empowering them to grow and expand Veterans Place and ensuring his legacy lives on forever.”