Northeast Veteran Training Rehabilitation Center
See NVTRC Presentation	New Project Focussing On Amputees, Traumatic Brain Injury, PTSD, and Burn Patients

Hope for the future, is what the Northeast Veteran Training Rehabilitation Center (NVTRC) is all about. The loss of a limb, a disfiguring burn, a brain injury or an emotional scar due to post traumatic stress are all life changing events that effect both the soldier and his or her family. The idea of not being a whole person or having your loved ones perceive you as something less than you were can leave emotional and psychological scars that dwarf the physical. Our focus will be on education, physical, occupational and emotional therapy with an emphasis on family counseling and life and recreational skills that are so often taken for granted. The NVTRC will address all of these problems, restoring the "whole person" to a life in which he or she can live and interact with friends and family without the psychological baggage that so often accompanies the amputee.
Some of the highlights of the program are:

• Education
• Focus on individuals potential and capabilities
• Recreation/leisure skill development
• Refinement of all daily living skills
• Strengthen family bonds through individual family therapies

The Center will be situated on ten to twelve acres of land donated by Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner Massachusetts. There will be a golf simulator, an indoor swimming pool, a jogging track, weight/exercise room, a gymnasium, a trout pond and a variety of other amenities designed to prepare the residents for a life in which his or her disability will be more of an annoyance than a burden. These services would be both difficult and expensive to provide if not for our partnership with the College. All of these facilities are in place at the college and their departments of physical and occupational therapy will be invaluable in providing the therapists necessary for the project. The Heywood Hospital, located directly across the street from the proposed facility, departments of physical, occupational and speech therapy, as well as the hospitals wide range of general health services will also be available to the program. The Center will have a main building with a "Mock Up" apartment for therapy, several therapy pools and a small business office. The clients will be housed in separate houses located on the Center grounds. These cottages will be approximately 1000 sq ft with two bedrooms, bath, kitchen and living area. The cottage concept will allow the clients to practice their living skills and provide privacy for both the veteran and his or her family.

The veteran is a unique type of patient. These men and women have been trained to overcome adversity and to trust the officers, and the men and women who fight beside them. This trust and dedication will be a powerful weapon against the depression, anxiety, and insecurity that will be their constant enemy. The success that will follow will be a victory for all, as each veteran takes pride in their accomplishments.

When you review the Veteran Homestead's experience and history of success in serving the veteran community, the excellent educational opportunities available at Mount Wachusett Community College and the quality health care accessible through Heywood Hospital, the result will become a facility serving the veteran community that cannot be matched anywhere in the country.

We are currently in the development stage of this project and will need approximately seven million dollars ($7,000,000.00) to complete it.

Progess Details

The City of Gardner Department of Community Development and Planning has approved our site plan and the architects and engineers are heavy into building design and state and local permitting.   We have had some donations of cash, materials and labor and would like to thank:

Iraq-Afghanistan Deployment Impact Fund and the California Community Foundation

Pioneer Valley Pools and Spas (San Juan Pools)   Peoples Engineering Bilowz Associates Kuhn Riddle Architects Baybutt Construction Monadnock Landclearing & Chipping Inc. The Ahern Foundation Mount Wachusett Community College Mike McMillan, Intui-Tech for web design American Legion Post 10 Antoinett Biros Baybutt Construction Bay State Pools Bernard L. Dudley Bernice Higdon Bruce Newton Celinda and Jay Lafalam Clarke School for the Deaf Coldwell Banker Creative Services of New England Daniel H. Lawlor Charitable Foundation

Diamond Technical Services Diane Ledwell Dianne Hagen and Walter Spencer Donald F. Wentworth Ferry Street Ink First Congregational Society Gold Star Mothers Goldline Controls Gustavo & Karen Gutierrez Harold & Diane Sparr Hayward Equipment Helise Lewis Jacqueline and Murray Hartman Jean and Murinie Breault Jean and Susan Hirschfield John and Marie Rowse Ladies Auxiliary VFW Post 6538 Larry Izzo Louise H. Howatt Lynda Southworth Major Robert Roulusonis Margaret and Carl Britton

Mellon Trust of New England Murray and Jacqueline A. Hartman Network for Good NEVVR Forget – 2007 Paul & Sue Boore Paul K. McGoldrick Richard and Debra Tonks Staples Steven M. and Lois P Rudnick Tara O’Connor The Arc Foundation The Stage – Tish Anne Kilgore Thomas Boyle Time to Ride LLC (TTR) Wayne and Bettyna Donelson Yoko and Paul Taylor In Honor of Louis Howaitt Charles Hagman, Jr. Dawm Hagaman Robert and Nancy Wilson

Contacts for Project Progress

Leslie Lightfoot, CEO of Veteran Homeststead Inc.		978 353-0234
Ray Fanelli, Director of Development		978 353-0234
Ron MacLachlan, Project Director of Operations		603 731-5841
Charles Roberts, Architect		413 259-1603
Scott Peoples, Engineer		978 464-7701
Ed Terceiro, VP Mount Wachusett Community College		978 630-9103
David Holmes, State Building Inspector		413 736-3628

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