Veterans Resource Center held its grand opening 110219

First three photos and article by Mary Alice Murphy; the rest of the photos are courtesy of the American Legion Auxiliary of Post 18

Paulo Veltri has promoted creating a Veterans' Resource Center at Western New Mexico University for several years. This year it came to fruition and is open near the patio by the Fitness Center, which is part of the PE Complex on campus.

A grand opening took place on Saturday, Nov. 2, 2019. On hand were veterans, including Medal of Honor awardee Drew Dix, who lives in Grant County. He serves as an honoree all over the country. He was on hand for this celebration.

"I want to bring more awareness to the veterans who are students, as well as those veterans who live in the area," Veltri said. "We will get more people in here. We plan to expand.

"This gives us a special place in our heart," he continued. "Although every one of us veterans had a unique experience, but we know so much about each other and our shared experiences."

Dix suggested the veterans that participate in the center be divided up into an infantry battalion arrangement. "Then you can assign them to a corpsman type person, who can help the veterans with their appointments when they are frustrated and lost in the VA system."

Veltri showed the three rooms of the center to this author.

"We have a library with bookshelves and books," he said. "We call this the casual social room. One room has a massage chair where a veteran can decompress. "We hope to have student interns doing counseling, social work, and addressing drug dependency, all of which we have course of here at Western. We're open to any services that will benefit the veterans. We want the community to invest in it."

Veltri said the center already has student veterans working under a work study program.

When asked what his role at the center is, he said, "I organized the project, and I'm serving as director."

He pointed to the books and the pieces of furniture that are in the center. "This work was done by the veteran community, and the American Legion Auxiliary played a huge part in the effort to get this ready. They worked in the community to get donations of the furniture and books."

"Our next thing is we want to keep awareness going for the veterans," Veltri said. "Last month we held a veteran resource fair. Now we're holding this celebration. In November, we will hold a third Thursday forum, put on by the Democratic Party. The topic will focus on veterans."