Columbia veterans shelter set to open new location
A Columbia group that helps veterans in mid-Missouri will open a new location later this week.
Welcome Home will host the grand opening of its new $3.2 million shelter Thursday at 10 a.m. The organization provides emergency and transitional shelter, food, case management and advocacy to veterans who are homeless, at risk of becoming homeless or leaving a domestic violence situation.
The new building will increase the shelter’s capacity to 34 beds. It will also allow Welcome Home to shelter female veterans and families with children.
“It’s not just about bringing veterans together to re-create community around our homeless vets, it’s also about bringing the entire community together to bridge that gap and get us back on our feet and into society where we belong,” said Executive Director Tim Rich.
At its current location, Welcome Home can only provide 11 male veterans with a place to sleep. In rare cases, the shelter can use two couches. It still had to turn away 92 veterans in 2016 due to a lack of space or funding. Welcome Home did assisted 124 veteran in 2016.
The new shelter will also house the Vets Work Employment Program. It’s a program designed for veterans who are unemployed or underemployed.
Welcome Home was founded in 1992 by four Vietnam veterans. Since the group was formed, it has seen an 80 percent success rate in finding independent housing for homeless veterans.
