FORT LEE, Va. (May 3, 2012)- The Fort Lee Family Life Center, housed in Memorial Chapel, is getting a bigger space to fill its needs.
The $784,000 addition to the center is under construction now and is projected to be completed (weather permitting) before the end of the year. The construction is not affecting any of the services offered at Memorial Chapel.
The chapel annex will create additional rooms that will be used for educational classes, meetings and other purposes, said Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Robert Nay, the deputy installation chaplain.
The addition has been in the works for years, said Donna Calandra, Memorial Chapel building and program coordinator.
"It was the vision of Maj. Gen. James E. Chambers to put all the Family activities together at Fort Lee," she said.
Calandra said Chambers, who was a previous commanding general of the Combined Arms Support Command and Fort Lee, had a vision for the area that is now the Child, Youth and School Services campus and Memorial Chapel. All are in close proximity to Family Housing. The Family Life Center is used for a plethora of activities including personal and professional counseling and development.
The center and its programs are open to all DoD personnel, Nay said.
"Any one in need is welcome here," he said.
Calandra likened the center to an all-purpose center on the installation.
It is home to Wednesday night "Dinner and Discipleship," a pre-school story hour, a place for Prince George students who live in the Villages at Fort Lee to receive tutoring and much more.
"This is a community house," said Nay. "Military members and their Families can find sanctuary for rest. It is a place to get closer to God and their neighbors. This is a place to better themselves, rejuvenate themselves. The end result is to have a more resilient military member and Family members."
Nay said chapels aren't just for Sunday services or when there is trouble in your life.
"A chapel is a place for good times and celebration, renewal, reflection and growth," he said. "Whatever season of life you are in, the chapel is a community place where we can encourage and comfort one another."
Likening the Family Life Center to painter Robert Cole's "The Voyage of Life," Nay said the chapel is a place for all the phases of life -- childhood, youth, manhood and old age and the annex will provide more space to gather and encourage one another through our lives.
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