Editor's note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave's On the Ground Battle Creek series.
 
BATTLE CREEK, MI — The average person makes about 35,000 decisions each day, according to the Leading Edge.

Active duty military personnel make about 300 decisions per day. During their time in the service thay have commanding officers who tell them what to do which decreases the number of choices they have to make. This leads to challenges faced by these men and women when they re-enter civilian life, says Rick Stover, Vice President of Administrative Services for Veterans Helping Veterans of Southwest Michigan.

John GrapVeterans Helping Veterans’ new location is on East Michigan Avenue near downtown Battle Creek.In late May, the organization more than tripled its space and expanded its capacity to provide much-needed resources to Veterans who are experiencing homelessness, substance use, or confusion about where to go to get help. An open house is scheduled from noon to 3 p.m. on July 18 to give the public an opportunity to learn more about the services and resources provided.

“My own personal opinion is that once a Vet is discharged from active duty, the government and the VA (Veterans Administration) tries very hard to help with the transition,” he says. “If you take Vets who have just been discharged from the service, they don’t have the ability to balance a checkbook or think on their own because those who lead them are always telling them what to do.”

When they are discharged, they often come home to family and friends whose lives have moved on.

“The majority of them live at home for a while, and some of them self-destruct because they’re isolated from the life they had in the military,” Stover says, adding that this is especially true for someone who enters the service at age 18.

“If an individual gets out of the service at 24 or 25, they’ve learned military culture. Their family has adjusted to them not being there, and they isolate, which leads to acting out, substance use, or suicidal tendencies.”

John GrapVeterans Helping Veterans’ new location has about 10,000 square feet, significantly more than their previous location at the former Springfield High School.For many, their downward spiral devolves into homelessness. In 2023, there were 173 unhoused Veterans in Calhoun County. They were part of a statewide total of 2,443, according to the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS).
“We knew from running the shelter that we had Veterans who were part of the homeless population,” says Todd McDonald, who served as Board Chairperson for the city’s former Homeless Shelter.

In May 2024, the shelter closed because of a lack of funding. During discussions about what would come next for the building, McDonald says he learned from leadership with the Battle Creek Community Foundation (BCCF) about the local Veterans' organization’s need for additional space.

“We felt that Vets Helping Vets would continue our shelter’s support for the homeless,” McDonald says. “They also have a relationship with the S.H.A.R.E. Center and Haven of Rest Ministries, so we felt like there was good alignment.”
McDonald says he and fellow board members decided to give the shelter properties valued at $346,000 to the local Veterans organization. Stover says Veterans Helping Veterans relies on funding through grants and donations and did not have the money to purchase the buildings, but was able to cover the cost to install a new furnace and plumbing.

John GrapRick Stover is Vice-President for Administrative Services at Veterans Helping Veterans.After the final closing papers were signed on April 7, the volunteer staff and teams began moving the organization out of a 4,200-square-foot building in Springfield to its new location at 209 E. Michigan Avenue.

Stover says beds and boxes of personal hygiene items that were left inside the 10,000-square-foot homeless shelter were donated to the Haven. The building will now house donated household items and furniture that will be given to Veterans and their families when they find housing. A smaller 4,200-square-foot building will be used by Stover; Larry Bales, Co-Founder of the organization and its President and CEO; Michelle Pascoe, who works as a Veteran Navigator at Summit Pointe and also is on the Veterans Helping Veterans Board of Directors; and Cindy Dawson, Vice President of Operations.

That building also has four empty office spaces and a community room that will be rented out, with first preference given to other Veteran organizations. This, Stover says, will be a way for Veterans Helping Veterans to generate revenue.

John GrapVeterans Helping Veterans’ new location has about 10,000 square feet, significantly more than their previous location at the former Springfield High School.In addition to making sure Veterans know what benefits and services are available to them, Stover and Pascoe will also help them navigate through the ins and outs of life as a civilian.

“A big piece of our organization is the Veterans Resource Center. One of my jobs when I was working for the VA was helping people understand the military culture. Now I help them with the civilian life and the decisions they have to make, like making a dentist appointment and where their insurance is coming from. This is a life change for them,” says Stover, an Air Force Veteran who retired from the Federal Center.
He says the Department of Defense and the VA are doing a much better job of helping Veterans transition into civilian life, citing a friend of his who has three years remaining in his commitment to the Army, who is already being assisted.

“We are here to make sure that no Veteran is left to figure things out on their own,” Stover says.

A one-stop resource

Founded in 2011, the local Veterans Helping Veterans had two overarching missions: to make sure Veterans have the resources they need and to collect donations of household items and furniture so that they have what they need to set up their own homes.

John GrapVeterans Helping Veterans used Two Men and a Truck to move them into its new offices.“The founders of the organization saw a piece of paper on the floor at the VA that said Vets were looking for household items. From that, we set up a delivery service, and that’s how we got started,” Stover says.

“Since 2011, we have serviced well over 4,000 vets, and an average cost of our household distribution is about $1,700 a donation. We’ve had more than $8 million in donations since 2011.”

About 80 percent of the veterans referred to Veterans Helping Veterans come through the Haven, which has a residential program called Vets in Progress. But they also receive referrals from Summit Pointe or 211.

“When a Veteran is ready to be discharged from the Vets in Progress program, they’re given a voucher, and that’s a free apartment grant through HUD (United States Department of Housing and Urban Development),” Stover says. “We’re contacted by the VA and we provide furniture and household items, anything that’s required for a person to start their life in a new place.”

John GrapLarry Bales is President and Chief Executive Officer of Veterans Helping Veterans.A La-Z-Boy store in Portage that was closing donated computer equipment, a filing system, tables, and odds and ends like vases valued at $56,000. They also received four truckloads of furniture from houses that were provided to resident physicians by Grace Health. Stover says this donation also included antiques that “we turned around and sold.”

“It’s been a blessing,” he says of donations like these.

However, it’s also been a challenge because the organization doesn’t have a pick-up service.

“My biggest challenge is setting up logistics and figuring out how to get things in and out of the warehouse,” Stover says. “We are always looking for volunteers to help us.”
The organization is volunteer-led and volunteer-driven. It relies on grants, individual donors, and in-kind contributions to fund its operations.

“We are the only Veterans organization in Southwest Michigan doing what we’re doing,” Stover says. “I like to call us a neutral spot. We don’t care what branch of the service you were in or what your discharge status is. People I’ve talked to have said it’s about time.”

John GrapVeterans Helping Veterans’ conference room at its new location.