Dayton opened the doors of the Miami Valley Veterans Hub Tuesday, a comprehensive new resource center designed to connect unhoused and at-risk veterans with housing assistance, mental health services, employment support, and peer counseling in a single, accessible location. City officials and veteran advocates gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the 18,000-square-foot facility on West Third Street.
The hub is operated through a partnership between the Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Montgomery County, the City of Dayton, and the nonprofit Veterans Community Project, which has established similar facilities in Kansas City, Chicago, and St. Louis. Funding for the $4.2 million renovation of the former commercial building came from federal VA grants, Montgomery County ARPA funds, and a $1.2 million fundraising campaign led by the Dayton Foundation.
Miami Valley Veterans Hub Director James Reedy said the facility would immediately begin serving the estimated 280 veterans experiencing homelessness in the greater Dayton area, as well as the roughly 650 veterans considered housing-insecure — meaning they are at serious risk of losing their housing within 60 days. “We have a moral obligation to ensure that every man and woman who served this country has a safe place to come home to,” Reedy said.
On-site services include an emergency housing navigation program, a veterans-specific food pantry, a legal aid clinic staffed by attorneys from the Ohio State Bar Foundation’s Veterans Legal Assistance project, and weekly mental health and substance use counseling sessions facilitated by VA-credentialed clinical staff. A dedicated job training and employer placement program will partner with area manufacturers and construction firms who have pledged to prioritize veteran hiring.
Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims Jr. said the hub represents a long-overdue investment in the region’s veteran community. The Dayton metro area is home to over 80,000 veterans and has a long association with military service through Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. “These are people who gave everything for us,” Mims said. “This hub is our way of giving back.”
Several veterans who spoke at Tuesday’s ceremony shared emotional accounts of cycling through homelessness and near-homelessness, describing how lack of coordination between agencies had made their experiences more chaotic and difficult. “Having everything under one roof makes all the difference,” said Vietnam-era veteran Robert Greene, who found stable housing last year through a predecessor program.
The hub is open Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Veterans can walk in without an appointment. More information is available at miamivalleyveteranshub.org.
