SHREVEPORT, La. — Volunteers of America North Louisiana will cut the ribbon Tuesday on a new Veterans Safe Haven at 1717 Irving Place, in the Highland section of Shreveport, a building meant to give homeless veterans a stable place to sleep and a path toward a home of their own.
The dedication is set for 2 p.m. on Nov. 10. The Safe Haven program has been run since 2014 with the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center. It offers a bed, meals and hands-on help with benefits, case plans and connections to VA clinicians. Unlike many shelters, the program does not demand that someone be sober before walking through the door, so veterans who are still wrestling with mental health or substance use can get inside.
Carolyn Hammond, the nonprofit’s president and chief executive, said the point is not simply a roof overhead. She described a setting where veterans feel welcome and able to take the next step, and she thanked partners who helped finish a building designed around those needs. Staff say the old space no longer fit as the caseload grew, and the new rooms were planned to give people privacy while still leaving room to talk with counselors and one another.
Over more than a decade the program has worked with 331 veterans and typically fills about 90 percent of its beds, a sign that the need across North Louisiana has not gone away. Brown Builders handled the remodeling with Vintage Design Group. Backing arrived from The Home Depot’s charitable arm and from Louisiana state funds.
Tuesday’s event is both a ribbon-cutting and a dedication, set for 2 p.m. at 1717 Irving Place. Highland neighbors will have a new building next door for veterans who have been without a stable place to sleep. After the doors open, the program will keep offering meals, benefits help and case planning alongside VA clinical teams.
Section: More Shreveport LA events news
Filed under: Shreveport LA Events News
