QCC Student Veterans Awarded $10,000 for New Vet Center

Walking onto a college campus after leaving the military can be a disorienting experience for student veterans. That’s why The Home Depot Foundation and Student Veterans of America are awarding the SVA chapter at Quinsigamond Community College $10,000 for its veteran center on campus, as part of their Vet Center Initiative.

Founded in 2014, QCC Veterans Club provides military veterans, their families, and active duty military students a comprehensive support of services, advocacy and resources to support their successful transition to college life.

“This is such a great honor to receive this grant and be able to give back to our student vets by providing them with a vet center on campus that they can truly call their own,” said Paula Ogden, Director of Veteran Affairs and QCC Vets Club Advisor.

Student Veterans of America and The Home Depot Foundation teamed up in 2014 to launch the Vet Center Initiative, offering SVA chapters a chance to compete for up to $10,000 in grant money to build or renovate a veteran center. By 2015, 61 campuses earned $500,000 to build or rehabilitate veteran centers that benefit more than 30,000 student veterans. This year, 50 campus communities were awarded grants of up to $10,000.

SVA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit coalition of more than 1,300 student veteran chapters, representing over 540,000 veterans in higher education, across the country. SVA's mission is to provide military veterans with the resources, support, and advocacy to ease veteran and active military students' transition into higher education and leverage military experience to launch successful careers in high-demand fields after graduation.

For more information, visit www.studentveterans.org or follow on Twitter @studentvets.