Grand opening events celebrate growth of our Veterans Services in Tennessee, Kentucky

Volunteers of America President/CEO Jennifer Hancock, Nashville Mayor Megan Barry, Volunteers of America Development Director Randy Brothers, Nashville Sheriff Daron Hall, Tennessee State Representative Darren Jernigan and retired Nashville Metro Councilman Phil Ponder celebrated our new HVRP program with a ribbon cutting ceremony at our Nashville office.

Last week, Volunteers of America celebrated the growth and expansion of our Veterans Services by hosting grand opening events at our three new Homeless Veterans Reintegration Programs (HVRP) in Lexington, KY and Chattanooga and Nashville, TN. We were joined by community supporters, staff and government officials to celebrate the growth of our veterans services programs across Kentucky and Tennessee.

In Lexington, we heard from Former Mayor Teresa Isaac, Scott Shapiro representing Mayor Jim Gray's office, Van Ingram from the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy and our President/CEO Jennifer Hancock, who all shared in our excitement to be able to offer our services to prevent and end homelessness among our veterans.

"I think you all join me in the belief that no one person who has bravely served our country should have to live on the streets or in their vehicles and live day to day not knowing where their next meal is coming from," Hancock said.

In Nashville, we were honored to hear from Mayor Megan Barry, Nashville Sheriff Daron Hall and State Representative Darren Jernigan, who echoed the need for our services to ensure that no veteran has to experience homelessness after serving our country. In Chattanooga, we welcomed community partners and area businesses to our new program location and heard remarks from both Hancock and Program Outreach Specialist Robert Gibson, who noted how excited our organization is to bring our veterans services to Chattanooga for the first time.

Hancock noted that our outreach staff will visit encampments and other locations where veterans often gather in the community to "reach veterans in their natural environments, and ensure we are connecting with them in a way that is very sensitive and respectful of their circumstances."

We are honored to serve the men and women who have so bravely served our country and its people.

Read and watch more about the HVRP grand opening celebrations in The Contributor (Nashville) and on WDEF.com. Visit our Facebook page to see additional photos from all three grand opening events!