ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Veterans Outreach Center in Rochester faced a significant setback after losing a $500,000 federal grant.
As of this month, the center no longer has access to funding they have relied on for over 20 years. Laura Heltz, Veterans Outreach Center executive director and U.S. Army veteran, said she learned of the funding cut on a Friday, just before the new grant year was set to begin the following Monday.
“We had very little time to react and just really felt the kind of the blow of that loss,” Heltz said.
The grant, from the U.S. Department of Labor, supported the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program. The Veterans Outreach Center now has to seek alternative funding sources.
“It always hurts when we lose funding,” Heltz said. “I don’t care how big or small the dollar amount is.”
The program has been instrumental for veterans like Douglas Makarushka in finding employment. Makarushka expressed gratitude for the support he received.
“It’s helped me enormously,” he said. “Just coming here for the first time and meeting the managers and the case managers here.”
Makarushka has been at his job for six weeks and is beginning to find stability.
“Without this program, I don’t know what I might be doing right now,” he said. “I still may be in a homeless shelter.”
Despite the $500,000 shortfall, the Veterans Outreach Center continues to support veterans like Makarushka. Heltz said she encourages employers who like the idea of having veterans on their staff to reach out to her.
“We’re talking to companies to try to understand more what their needs are so that we can create training programs that will maybe offer a pipeline for our vets right into employment opportunities here locally,” said Heltz.
Employers who are interested in working with the Veterans Outreach Center can reach them at 585-546-1081.
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