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Military veterans, community invited to new, larger county vets affairs center

Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier - 6/15/2021

Jun. 15—WATERLOO — The old county veterans affairs office was four rooms — three of them offices — in around 500 square feet. That was room to meet a counselor, sign up for benefits and be sent on their way, Yolando Loveless said.

"The veteran could not do anything," said Loveless, the director of Black Hawk County Veterans Affairs. "It was very restrictive."

But those who have fought in the nation's wars, who have been deployed overseas and who might be suffering from mental illness or just loneliness needed something more than that, Loveless said. Now, thanks to Loveless, his predecessor Kevin Dill and the county board of supervisors, they do.

Loveless and his staff officially welcomed visitors last week to the grand opening of their new, 5,000-square-foot location inside the Pinecrest building at 1407 Independence Ave. in Waterloo.

The space, which previously housed a daycare center, was one Dill had fought for even as he retired in 2019 due to a terminal diagnosis. He envisioned it at that time as "just a place to go to get some peace and quiet, a place to get some hope."

That's exactly what the new center represents, Loveless said last week, likening it to "a USO feeling," or the place that deployed military personnel can "unwind" after being on the battlefield.

"We have a lot of single veterans that just sit at home," Loveless said. "We're just trying to get veterans out: Come on out, interact with us, share your story. ... That's what really brings the camaraderie out."

Besides the offices that greet you at the front of the building, the new digs feature an on-site food pantry, a game room featuring a pool table, a commission meeting room that doubles as a community meeting space that Loveless said also might host "veteran movie nights," a larger waiting room with a TV, books and memorabilia, and a full kitchen.

There's also a "relax room," as Loveless called it, where vets can meet with everyone from a counselor to a hairdresser, or have a private chat with a doctor over the computer.

"That's become a very positive thing for our veterans, especially our elderly veterans," Loveless said.

There's also the use of Pinecrest's entire fenced-in yard, where volunteers can put the full kitchen to use for cook-outs. Loveless said building out the yard will be his "phase two," and hopes to convince the board of supervisors to let him put in a permanent shelter, maybe even a volleyball court, to better host the summer grill-outs the organization used to have in Lincoln Park.

"This is our very first event in almost two years," Loveless said as people ate and chatted at picnic tables outside. "It feels good to at least get back out there and do that."

The new center will honor Dill's foresight with a bench out front dedicated to the former director, said Loveless, noting he plans a dedication ceremony and plaque soon.

"This was his three-year vision," Loveless said.

Above all, he hopes the new, larger center is more welcoming to the county's military veterans, particularly those that may be owed benefits from their service, but also just as a community space.

"Come in and enjoy the facility — this is not our facility, this is the veterans' facility," Loveless said.

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