Swords to Plowshares

The City of Chicopee Massachusetts plans to step in and provide some of the critical services many veterans are in need of.

New services proposed for veterans

CHICOPEE - Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette is proposing comprehensive new services for city veterans, including housing and the creation of a veterans’ opportunity center.

The mayor’s plan involves using Chicopee Housing Authority property, contingent on a new senior center being built behind Szetela Early Childhood Center off Macek Drive.

Bissonnette wants to convert the 40-unit Valley View Apartments, adjacent to the existing senior center, into veterans’ housing and use the old senior center for a veterans’ opportunity center. Both Valley View and the senior center are owned by the housing authority.

“It’s certainly three to five years away, but we want to start the process now,” Bissonnette said last week. “We’d be looking for state and federal assistance.”

The city would also seek guidance from the privately operated Soldier On, formerly the United Veterans of American Homeless Shelter, in Leeds. The group runs a 120-bed shelter for homeless veterans, and is planning a 39-unit apartment complex in Pittsfield that will be owned by the veterans who live there.

The veterans’ opportunity center would focus on obtaining housing, healthcare and job training for veterans of all ages and from all conflicts. There’s more…