WNC officially reopens veterans support center

The Western Nevada College Veterans Resource Center offered standing room only Wednesday with Carson City stakeholders ready to reopen the facility for students or those seeking a transitional path.

The VRC was remodeled and refurbished with training materials, workshops, outreach, activities and other physical resources. Purchases included new furniture, a cabinet, Apple equipment including a computer and iPad and new flag poles.

The remodel was made possible by donations from the NV Energy Foundation and the Carson City Chamber Leadership Institute’s Class of 2023.

Rooms in the center offer three desks, all of which provide for computers and allow for wheelchairs. Guests can access a 65-inch television with an Xbox and PlayStation as well as a snack bar.

“I’m pretty happy that it’s standing room only here to actually officially reopen our center,” President Kyle Dalpe told the Appeal. “It went dark during the pandemic, and we’re actually seeing more numbers than I’ve seen in a while. A lot of people were really missing it, and so they’ve come back to use it.”

Plaques, photos and the center’s centerpiece mural, an eagle against an American flag with soldiers standing watch, honor vets. Plans are to complete a VRC in Fallon by the end of the year, according to coordinator John Jacobson, who said Wednesday he was overwhelmed by the community support.

WNC has more disabled and female veterans returning to school, Jacobson said, and it’s important for Carson City’s college to welcome and assist them.

“Our main focus is traditional student veterans,” he said.

The NV Energy Foundation provided $25,000 to complete the VRC, and the Chamber Leadership Institute chose the VRC as its class project.

The center originally opened in January 2013. Jacobson said support can cover a gamut of needs from financial to cover course fees to social or emotional anxieties as they readjust to civilian life or determine what type of job, career or academic pathway interests them.

“We get them connected everywhere,” Jacobson said. “I bring all of them down here. Not all of them have a disability, but maybe there are some resources to help them with whatever they need.”

Jacobson served almost nine years in the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines for three deployments. He married and had a son and enjoyed his career, but he never graduated high school. He said he also wanted to be a good father for his son. The opportunity to become the VRC’s coordinator and help other veterans came after he decided to take classes himself and returned to Northern Nevada because he loved the outdoors and found Western Nevada College.

“I applied, got in and started taking classes, and I got escorted up to our Veterans Resources Center by a vet,” he said with a laugh. “I got chased down by him, he said, ‘Dude, you’ve got to see this.’ I went up there — and he and I still talk to this day — and I got hooked. I said, ‘This is where I want to be,’ because I missed the camaraderie, the brotherhood, sisterhood, all of that.”

Jacobson said he wanted to celebrate the reopening June 14 to commemorate Flag Day, and WNC staff members provided lapel pins fashioned in red, white and blue for the occasion.

Jacobson said he works with Veterans of Foreign Wars, Vietnam Veterans of America and the American Legion to help student veterans with their academic and financial needs.

Dalpe said WNC’s staff has found it has had almost 50 veterans come to the center this past academic year and that foot traffic has increased.

“It’s for vets who want to be students, who are students or they’re don’t have to be a student to come here,” Dalpe said. “It might be a transition point.”

For information about the VRC, contact Jacobson at john.jacobson@wnc.edu or 775-445-3301.