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Grand reopening of Veterans Resource Center slated for Sunday

A celebration for the expansion and reopening of the Jesse Beckius/Casey Owens Veterans Resource Center is slated for Sunday.

The nonprofit Western Slope Veterans Coalition is spearheading the event, which will include a ribbon cutting and the presentation of military colors, according to a news release.

The resource center serves Garfield, Eagle and Pitkin counties.



“Organizers will offer tours to the public, and agencies that provide veterans’ services will be on hand. In addition, 19th Street Diner will offer food in return for donations, with all proceeds benefiting the Western Slope Veterans Coalition.

The newly expanded facility is already open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.




Greg Rosenmerkel, president of the Western Slope Veterans Coalition board of directors, said the facility’s most important goal is to connect veterans with a variety of resources, including opportunities for veterans to give back to their communities.

If you go…

What: Ribbon cutting and open house for the Jesse Beckius/Casey Owens Veterans Resource Center

Where: 801 Colorado Ave., Glenwood Springs

When: Noon-4 p.m. Sunday

“We want to help them fulfill that sense of service,” Rosenmerkel said. “While we want to continue that mission of connecting veterans to the services they need, we also want to connect veterans to opportunities to give back to local nonprofits.”

Rosenmerkel said that in the past year, through the generosity of Garfield County, the nonprofit has been given the expanded space it needs.

“With that extra space we hope to be able to host more, bigger and more diverse functions during which organizations can make a presentation to veterans and their families,” Rosenmerkel said.

Before that, the space for veterans was an office with a conference table.

“Our plan is to have a monthly evening keynote event to draw people into the center,” Rosenmerkel said, adding that now the facility can host up to 30 people.

“We’ve got a little recreational space downstairs where we might host things like yoga for veterans, maybe some boxing and other fitness-type events,” Rosenmerkel said.

During the ribbon cutting, the nonprofit hopes to get more feedback on what kind of events veterans would like to bring to the center.

“This is our big push for outreach,” Rosenmerkel said. “So, this open house is a great opportunity to have some of those same organizations that would be presenters gauge interest.”

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