On any given day, Summit County has upwards of 1,000 homeless veterans.
But by early 2012, those veterans will have another place to get help: the nearly $1.4 million Valor Home.
About 150 people gathered under a white tent surrounded by American flags for Saturday's groundbreaking for Valor Home, a 30-bed transitional-housing facility that will be built off East Waterloo Road.
The crowd, including veterans, families and community leaders, listened as local and state officials, including Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic, spoke about the importance of taking care of and assisting veterans in need.
''If you're going to help a homeless heal, you have to get the community involved and you don't build a homeless shelter, you build a home,'' said Matthew Slater, veterans services director for Family & Community Services, a nonprofit organization based in Ravenna.
''That way veterans learn the importance of community and that they still play a vital role. The worst thing is for vets to feel isolated. When they come back and feel like they have no purpose in our country, that's the saddest thing.''
The 1.6-acre site was deeded to the city by Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority, and the city donated it to the Summit County Veterans Service Commission.
Last October, the commission received $906,338 from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to cover 65 percent of Valor Home. That left the commission responsible for 35 percent, or about $475,000 of construction costs.
Slater said to raise the needed funds, the commission is working with Habitat for Humanity, which will donate $15 to the project for every hour of service volunteered by the community.
In addition, supporters can participate in an adopt-a-room program, purchase an engraved paving brick or donate money.
Plusquellic referred to the area as ''a veterans' corridor'' be
cause of the Veterans Service Commission office directly across the street from the Valor Home site and the veterans' clinic about 1.5 miles away.
Also speaking were Anthony Massey and Dustin Szarell, two local veterans and graduates of the Freedom House transitional facility in Kent.
Massey, who served in Operation Desert Storm, spoke cheerfully about how his time in a transitional facility helped him.
''It helped me turn my life around, I fixed my credit, I bought my own home, I'm proof that it works,'' he told the crowd.
Szarell, who served in Iraq, gave an emotional speech about the importance of being able to talk with fellow veterans and the opportunity to help him deal with his alcohol addiction. That drew a standing ovation.
''It's been really good. I never expected to find a program that could help me get to where I wanted to be because my mind was so scattered when I got back from Iraq. I was able to get my own place, go to college, get a job, and I was able to enhance my recovery,'' he said.
After the speeches, Shianne Eagleheart, founder of the Red Bird Center and a member of the Seneca Indian tribe, gathered the crowd hand-in-hand around a sugar maple ''tree of life'' and blessed the grounds with an Native American prayer.
To volunteer time, money or services, call 330-703-2585 or email valorhomecomm@yahoo.com.
Malcolm X. Abram can be reached at 330-996-3758 or mabram@thebeaconjournal.com.
