OREGON CITY, ORE. -- In the front of a busy college community center a team of people toil and spend long hours opening the Army Strong Community Center to provide support for servicemembers who have in turn provided selfless service to their nation.
The center opened at the Clackamas College Community Center just a few miles away from Portland and a couple hundred miles from any major military installation. The few hundred Soldiers, their Families, friends and employers showed up at the grand opening of the fourth Army Strong Community Center.
The center connects those geographically dispersed Families with support resources in their own community. The center offers information, referrals and is dedicated in assisting and supporting service members, retirees, veterans, and Family members for all branches of the military, active and reserve.
“My wife, Laura, came up with the idea of a virtual installation to understand and appreciate our Soldiers who are a national treasure,” said Lt. Gen. Jack C. Stultz, chief, Army Reserve. “Today we are opening ‘Fort’ Clackamas. There is no better way to show support for the men and women in uniform and their Families except by opening this center.”
The Army Strong Community Center brings resources that are normally found at active duty military installations. Additionally, the center provides access to emergency support services.
Mrs. Laura Stultz, the wife of the lieutenant general and visionary behind the Army Strong Community Center, has seen her share of seeing her husband mobilize and deploy. This was the impelling cause behind her push for these virtual installations.
What began as a internet based support tool transformed into a physical location due to the recommendations from Soldiers and their Families.
She said, “No one has done more to preserve our way of life than our men and women in uniform and their Families. As a wife and mother I know what it’s like to have a husband be deployed.”
Mrs. Stultz added that she didn’t live near an installation and these centers are a dream come true.
They provide assistance for Families with life management and well being issues. Included are access to health and dental benefits, housing assistance, childcare and programs.
“Deep in my heart I know this center will work. The other centers have provided so much support to the men and women in uniform,” said Mrs. Stultz. “The Army Strong Community Center is a connection between the military and the community. It helps the Families that live a great distance from an installation.”
One Army Reserve Soldier who recently returned from a deployment came into the Clackamas Army Strong Community Center with his pregnant wife and two children. He had been unemployed for nine months and needed assistance.
After the visit he left the office with information that he qualified for educational benefits that included the Montgomery G. I. Bill and Pell Grant; information that he also qualified for the Oregon’s Training Unemployment Insurance program; and, information on the Army Reserve Partnership Program.
The Soldier came in lacking hope but left with promising opportunities to care for his Family and provide for a future that will be bright and further benefit the community.
Another beneficiary to the Army Strong Community Center was a young Soldier who was unaware of the documentation that needed to be completed for his educational benefits. The center fills the gap for the missing Army Education Centers that are typically found on active-duty installations but not at Army Reserve centers.
This Soldier said the center helped him get the documents submitted so that he could utilize the benefits afforded to him via his Army Reserve membership.
These stories echo the successes at the other Army Strong Community Centers located at Rochester, N. Y., Brevard, N. C., and Coraopolis, Penn.
The general and his wife hope to see two more centers open within the next three years.
For more information on the Army Strong Community Centers see http://www.arfp.org/skins/ARFP/display.aspx?action=display_page&mode=User&ModuleID=8cde2e88-3052-448c-893d-d0b4b14b31c4&ObjectID=3747cb51-15bc-49c4-91f1-92e9d298f6ba
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