Veterans Strong Community Center



VSCC is a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization that provides regional information and serves as a resource center for Veterans, Service Members and Families, regardless of discharge status or branch/component. The VSCC is equipped with not only a variety of informational pamphlets and brochures, but also a computer and printer for client use, a small food pantry and clothing closet. The Executive Director can analyze inquiries for assistance and make appropriate referrals. VSCC also acts as a liaison with various support agencies, state and local governments, and public and private organizations in order to connect clients to the appropriate resources.


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Veterans Strong Community Center (VSCC) was founded in 2016 when the National Army Strong Community Center located in Bristol, Connecticut closed. Donna Dognin and Patrick Nelligan realized the benefits provided by the Army Strong Community Center couldn't stop. They took a 11-million-dollar program and worked to run it with less than $50,000. Over the past six years, VSCC has grown leaps and bounds. We currently serve seven communities in the greater Bristol area: Bristol, Burlington, Harwinton, Plainville, Plymouth Thomaston and Wolcott. We have over 11,180 veterans in our service area. In 2017, VSCC started a very small food pantry to help close the food insecurity gap our client's experience. From 2019-2020, we tripled the size of our food pantry, which also provided household items. 2021 required us to move our office due to renovations and with this move came a much smaller space. We no longer could house our food pantry. We adapted our food program to use gift cards to help our clients. In 2022 we added a Veteran Fuel program to our resources. This program is designed to help veterans/spouses who do not qualify for assistance from other community programs. We raised $11,000 through fundraisers for this imitative. We are now working to grow/sustain it with grants. In addition to these funds, we connect veterans to the resources necessary to meet their needs, such as accredited service officers to review service-connected disability claims, legal aid for free resources, and we provide assistance with job placement and resume reviews. This is in addition to helping our clients apply for VA healthcare, VA IDs, SNAP benefits, and requesting copies of their discharge papers. Most of our clients do not have access to computers and need assistance completing online forms. We purchased Case Mangement software in 2022 which allowed us to determine the need for the Veterans Logistics Fund. Through our interactions from 2020-2022 we saw an increase in the number of requests for transportation assistance. Due to liability concerns VSCC does not transport clients to appointments. MR Homecare carries the liability insurance necessary to accompany our clients on these visits allowing us to focus on raising the money necessary to pay for the required services. As our organization grows, we have gone from focusing on food to housing cost and now we are moving into the health and wellbeing of our clients. We continue to look for new ways to meet the needs of our client base.  



Current Total

$86

Of $5,000 Fundraising Goal
$75 in Donations + $11 Bonus Bucks sponsored by Webster Bank
Donate 0 Days Remaining to Donate
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