A group of Vicksburg residents want to help recently discharged veterans make the transition back to civilian life by providing them a place to stay, counseling and educational assistance to find jobs and get back with their families.

“Our veterans need a place to stay, they need some opportunities to readjust their lives when they get back here. I think we need to have something for them when they get home,” said Eva Ford, president of the nine-member board that will manage the Vicksburg Warren Veterans Transition Center.

“The word is transition, simple because they are not homeless; they’re making the transition from the time they leave the service with no job and no money; they’re transferring from one service to another,” she said.

Ford, a retired nurse and president of the American Legion Post 3 Auxiliary and vice president of the Legion’s State Auxiliary, said the idea for the center came during a discussion with a young veteran about his experience and how little help veterans receive after they are discharged. The young man, she said, mentioned a center, “And I thought, it’s time to do something about it.”

She said the center has received its 501c(3) designation, and the board is looking at a building for the center. She said the center is not affiliated with the American Legion or its auxiliary.

“We are making it possible,” she said, adding NRoute, the city’s public transportation system, has agreed to put a bus stop in front of the center and will offer monthly passes that will allow the veterans to go to job interviews and other appointments.

She said the center is geared for recently discharged veterans to help them readjust to the civilian life.

“We hope to have counseling and people to talk to them when they need them,” Ford said. “Our plan is to have security, and we’re going to let the people be part of the activities, like participating in cooking meals.

“For someone coming back who doesn’t have a job, cooking and helping someone else is good for them, psychological release of feeling needed, and that would help them help others.”

She also hopes to have room so veterans’ wives and children can join them, adding, “We want to bring the family back as soon as possible.”

She said Warren-Yazoo Mental Health has agreed to work with the shelter, and retired teachers will come to the shelter to help veterans prepare to seek jobs by helping them with courses like math and English.

“Some of the veterans who have an education and finished college, they have careers, (but) they don’t have a job, because they have to make a readjustment,” she said. “We can have people work with them to get back to their career or help them find a new career.”

Ford said the center will be managed by an administrator hired by the board.

“The person selected for the job will have to know veterans are people, know they are human beings and they have needs, and don’t put them down or run them down or treat them like animals,” she said.

She also hopes to get younger people involved “because when we are gone, I want to make sure it goes on and they (young people) get to know them and what it is to be a veteran.”

Ford said the center’s board will apply for grants and other assistance, adding the center needs help from the community.

“We will need beds, bed wear (linen), tools, pots and pans, silverware and twin beds,” she said. “I pray people will be grateful enough because these people put their lives on the line for us.”

Currently, she said, donations can be made to the American Legion’s Veterans Support Fund, and the money will be sent to the center’s board.

“If you can’t help a soldier get on his feet, I don’t know where your Christian love is,” she said. “If they can go on the battlefield and put their lives on the line to save us, we ought to be able to help them when they get back here and not criticize them. This is a community thing. It’s all about helping our people.”