Robin’s Home cuts ribbon on veterans resource center
The local veterans assistance agency Robin’s Home began in 2019 as a supportive housing program for woman veterans in the Butler area, before opening a thrift store and donation center in November 2022.
On Friday, March 8, the organization officially opened the doors to its new Veterans H.E.A.R.T. Resource Center on North Main Street in Butler, with a “heartwarming party” and ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“As the executive director, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve those who have selflessly served our nation,” said Robin’s Home executive director Mary Chitwood just before the ceremonial ribbon-cutting. “This center is dedicated to empowering our veterans and ensuring they receive the care and respect they deserve.”
Employees, volunteers, veterans and family members of veterans arrived for the “heartwarming party” to see, firsthand, what services the new resource center would offer to veterans, both male and female.
“My son was in the Army, my grandson was in the Army, and my father-in-law was in the Army,” said Marty Searle. “So we’re great supporters of this, and I’m just proud to be a part of it.”
Marty’s son, Justin Searle, who welcomed the new center with open arms, served in the U.S. Army for six years, and was deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait.
“I think it's a great thing,” Justin Searle said. “Veterans sometimes don't know where to turn. And now they got a spot where they can turn if they're in trouble.”
“I love the fact that anyone that does not know where to turn can come here, and there are people here that will direct them where they need to go,” Marty Searle said. “Because that is something that has been needed in this area for a long time.”
Among the resources offered by the new center are a computer lab, a recreation room with a foosball table, a donation center for food and clothing items, and a conference room to host a weekly support group for female veterans.
Local veterans can reach out to staff members and volunteers at the center — nearly all of whom are veterans themselves — who can direct them to community resources for employment, housing, education and health care.
Therapy dogs also will have a place at the resource center, thanks to Matthew and Alison Wilson, and their dog training company, Control is Key, based in Valencia.
“We have therapy dogs that we're going to be bringing to the center to work with veterans,” Alison Wilson said. “It's a beautiful facility. I think they're going to do a lot of good work for the veterans in the community, and I look forward to volunteering here and seeing the good work that they're going to do.”
For the opening ceremony, Robin’s Home rented a digital photo booth to place in the “rec room,” so visitors could record their memories of stopping by the new resource center on its first day of operation.
Also featured in the rec room is a wall of encouraging messages for veterans, each one left behind by visitors who have left a donation for the resource center. True to the name of the resource center, each of the messages is written on a heart-shaped sticker.
“We want the whole wall to be covered with messages for our veterans,” said Ev Searle, president of the Robin’s Home board of directors.
