FORT BELVOIR, Va. -- The USO has plans to build new family centers at both Fort Belvoir and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
"The location is still being determined," said Elaine Rogers, president of USO Metro. "Should fundraising go smoothly, we're looking to break ground this summer and would like to see both buildings completed by Sept. 15, 2011."
USO Inc. president Sloan Gibson said the project was inspired by the Army Community Services Center at Brooke Army Medical Center in Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Gibson toured the facility in March, and that got him to thinking about the new hospitals under construction at Belvoir and Bethesda. He soon decided that Belvoir and Bethesda needed centers similar to what can be found at Fort Sam Houston.
Gibson expects the two facilities to cost about $25 million to build, equip and furnish. The USO, however, is hoping to raise $100 million, which would cover construction costs; provide $20 to $25 million for each center's perpetual operation, including permanent staff and some supplies; and $50 million to support an array of "best-in-class programs" to support Wounded Warriors and their families.
Gibson said that Navy Vice Adm. John Mateczun, commander of Joint Task Force National Capital Region Medical, called the USO's proposal "serendipitous."
"He was sitting there trying to develop a joint solution to deal with a lot of the very issues that we were talking about," continued Gibson. "From that first visit, we proceeded to visit with every command element conceivable that would be involved, even peripherally, in a project there at Bethesda."
Those visits started the USO down a parallel track planning for a similar facility at Belvoir with the Army.
"The USO has always been there for Soldiers and their families," said Don Carr, public affairs officer for Fort Belvoir, "and we're very proud of what Fort Belvoir is to Soldiers and their families."
The Belvoir Center will be approximately 15,000 square feet and will have locker, storage, laundry and bathroom facilities; family areas, including a great room with fireplaces; teaching and demonstration kitchens; a dining room; and a concierge for community services, according to Rogers.
The facility will also include space for education resources and a learning center; employment services; a music studio; recreation facilities, including a media room, home theater, and auditorium; a conference room/library; game room; playgrounds; a meditation and/or sensory room; exterior spaces that include terraces with outdoor cooking facilities, an amphitheater, walking paths and landscaped gardens.
"Wounded Warriors and their families can expect to find a home away from home in this USO center," continued Rogers. "The center will serve as the place where families - caregivers and the wounded - can gather to relax and recharge so that they can remain strong throughout their recovery."
USO of Metropolitan Washington will staff both facilities with a mix of full-time staff and volunteers, but just how many is still unknown.
"I think that's going to be one of those things we're going to have to wait and see," Rogers said. "We have about 5,000 USO volunteers in the metropolitan area, but [they're] not all hospital-related. We have hundreds of volunteers right now who help us with hospital programs, and we'll be expanding that."
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