By Kylie Balk-Yaatenen - April 24th 2024
JANESVILLE
The new Rock County Veterans Service Office that opened in early April aims to be central and accessible, where veterans can learn about benefits and have sensitive conversations in a safe, comfortable space, staff members say.
The new location, 1717 Center Ave. Suite 100, in Janesville, consolidated once-separate Beloit and Janesville offices and staff into one location.
“We didn’t want (veterans) to just get services,” Rock County Deputy Veterans Service Officer Paul Crawford said. “We wanted them to get services that they were proud of that they liked that they were like, to me this is a shining light on Rock County to be willing to do something like this, to say, ‘Hey, we care about the veterans.’”
The county’s lease for its previous Veterans Services Office at the Eclipse Center in Beloit expired at the end of December 2023. That office closed in late March. The annual rent at the former Beloit site was $16,793, significantly less than what the county will pay to rent the new consolidated office.
County Facilities Management Director Brent Sutherland told The Gazette in October that annual rent for the new office is expected to be $70,000 per year for 10 years, significantly higher than a previous $50,000 annual cost estimate.
After 10 years, the annual rent is expected to go down to $60,000. Sutherland said the additional cost has allowed the building owner, Saad Mustafa, to recoup construction costs related to preparing the space.
The previous Veterans Services Office in Janesville, at the Rock County Courthouse, was rent-free.
Crawford said issues with the former sites included no reception area, no private offices and the covering of two offices by a small staff.
He cited specifically a lack of space to meet veterans in, for private conversations about their benefits and medical information and sensitive claims for things like PTSD and MST (Military Sexual Trauma), to receive coverage for medication or counseling. The few offices with doors consisted of a room with a desk and chairs.
Crawford also said in Beloit the office was hard to locate in the Eclipse Center with just one small sign on the door.
“We needed (veterans) could feel safe. Somewhere they felt like ‘hey we’re here to listen to you and you can tell us your story.’” he said. “This building to me is not just the service they need but the services they deserve.”
Crawford was one of four employees that split time between the two offices. He said other hallenges included a high traffic volume at the Janesville office, which meant someone always had to be there. When a staff member was sick or on vacation, covering both offices became even more challenging.
There was also new legislation and the PACT — Promise to Address the Comprehensive Toxics — Act of 2022, that drew an increasing number of veterans to the offices.
Crawford said that from 2021 to 2022 Rock County saw a 68% increase in claims filed. In 2023, 163 more veterans visited the office than in 2022 and more of the traffic was in Janesville, than in Beloit.
When exploring new options, a former local dental office was considered, Crawford said, as was the Daniel Williams Resource Center at 1717 Center Avenue, but neither was optimal.
The new space has doors that lock, ADA-compliant bathroom, a conference room, office space, a break room, windows that open and new technology.
Crawford said the hope is that it’s inviting enough to draw vets in.
Hiring a receptionist is a future vision, as is using one of the available spaces in the new office for a Center for Veterans Issues satellite office, and offering counseling currently only available in Madison.
Crawford said having a conference room where vets can sit down and meet with each other and veterans’ services representatives and representatives of other groups and agencies, is a big step up.
He said an effort is also underway to secure a vehicle to transport veterans from throughout the county to the new office.
“The goal has always been to reach as many veterans as possible and get them connected to services,” Crawford said. He said he hopes the new space helps to accomplish that.
A grand opening is planned sometime in May, and will be open to the public.