COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — For many veterans, the uniform may come off, but the need for support does not end when military service does. Finding a job, putting food on the table, paying a bill, getting counseling or simply figuring out what comes next can all be part of the transition.
For the past decade, Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center in Colorado Springs has worked to services to address those challenges under one roof.
The nonprofit was founded in 2016 to support veterans, active-duty service members, and military families. Its services now range from behavioral health counseling and employment assistance to food and financial support.
Executive Director Bob McLaughlin, a U.S. Army veteran, says the goal was to make it easier for veterans to navigate services and programs available to them.
McLaughlin's connection to Mt. Carmel began through a friendship with founder Jay Cimino.
"Mount Carmel started in Trinidad," McLaughlin said. "Mr. Cimino purchased his childhood church, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in 2007 and opened the doors in 2011 for a health and wellness center.”
Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center has been operating out of Colorado Springs since 2016.
McLaughlin says having multiple resources in one place is important because not every veteran qualifies for the same services and the needs of military families often extend beyond health care and benefits.
“The veteran community doesn't like to ask for support,” McLaughlin said. “The goal for me is that our watchword is a beacon of support.”
Support Mt. Carmel and Honor Our Heroes here.
Food assistance can open the door to more support
Just six months after opening, Mt. Carmel launched its first food distribution program.
Today, the organization operates a mobile food pantry and an on-site pantry that is open five days a week without an appointment. According to Mt. Carmel, about 30 people use the on-site pantry each week on average.
Shannon Olin, director of Military Veteran Family Services, says a visit for groceries can also help staff identify other challenges a client may be facing.
Someone may be dealing with a gap in employment, an unexpected bill or another financial setback. From there, Mt. Carmel can connect clients with financial assistance, coaching or other programs.
“It's never just one thing,” Olin said. “It's normally this domino effect.”
U.S. Army veteran William Barnes knows that firsthand.
Barnes has been coming to Mt. Carmel since 2021. He said he initially needed help after someone gained access to his bank account and drained his savings.
“They [Mt. Carmel] paid like two months to keep a roof over my head. They paid my phone bill, they paid my truck insurance,” Barnes said. “I mean, they just helped me.”
Barnes served seven years in the Army and remembers how difficult it was to transition back into civilian life when he left the military in the 1980s.
“I wish I had Mount Carmel when I got out,” he said.
Supporting mental health and life after service
Mt. Carmel's behavioral health program offers individual, couples and family counseling, along with group therapy.
Kirsten Belaire, director of behavioral health, said clients seek help for everything from relationship struggles and isolation to problems sleeping, military transition, and trauma.
Barnes says one of the most important things Mt. Carmel provides is the reassurance that veterans do not have to face whatever they are going through alone.
“This place has stepped up for me and I know they stepped up for others,” Barnes said.
Helping veterans find what's next
Employment is another major part of Mt. Carmel's work.
Its transition and employment program helps active-duty service members, National Guard and Reserve members, veterans, military spouses, and some adult children navigate their next career.
Jon Dix, director of Transition Employment, says staff can help clients identify career goals, build resumes, connect with employers, and prepare through mock interviews.
That guidance can be especially important for people who have spent decades working within the structure of the military.
Retired Army officer Jason Green described the transition as a major change.
“After 20 years of being within the Army, it can be a little bit nerve-racking,” Green said. “The transition, moving from that type of environment to the civilian life. It's a big change.”
Dix says over the last 10 years through September 30th, Mt. Carmel has helped 5,408 veterans, their spouses, and their children find their next career opportunity.
For some, that next opportunity is entrepreneurship.
The Colorado Veteran Business Outreach Center (VBOC) at Mt. Carmel helps military-connected entrepreneurs start or grow businesses.
Director Joe Reagan said his team helps people determine whether a business idea is feasible and navigate the often complicated process of entrepreneurship.
In the past year alone, Reagan said the program helped start more than 400 businesses and helped entrepreneurs access about $12 million in capital.
“If you took all veteran small businesses and put it aside every other industry, we'd be the 5th largest industry in the state," Reagan said. "These entrepreneurs, these military connected individuals, the veteran community, they're out there and they are a huge part of supporting our small business community across the state.”
Expanding beyond Colorado Springs
Mt. Carmel's reach has expanded beyond the Pikes Peak region to communities including Pueblo, Trinidad, and Alamosa.
In Pueblo, the Helping Hands Community Coalition holds a monthly resource event offering food, financial assistance, and other support through roughly 20 nonprofit organizations.
Sal Katz, director of Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center Southern Colorado, says between 200 and 300 people attend on average.
“You don't even have to be a veteran,” Katz said. “We just want to be able to serve the community.”
McLaughlin says expanding beyond Colorado Springs is among the organization's biggest accomplishments after a decade.
‘They are here for us’
For the people Mt. Carmel serves, its impact can look different from one person to the next.
Barnes admits asking for help did not always come easily.
“I was ashamed to reach out,” Barnes said. “It took me years to break that because, I mean, you're proud. I'm proud.”
But today, Barnes describes Mt. Carmel using a phrase familiar to many who have served: “I've got your six.”
“I am there for you,” Barnes said. “And that's how I feel about Mount Carmel, they are here for us.”
After a decade of serving veterans and military families, Mt. Carmel's staff members say success is measured in the lives that change.
McLaughlin describes it as providing hope amid hopelessness. Olin sees it when someone walks in needing food but leaves connected with resources for employment, mental health care, insurance, or other needs.
Barnes' message to other veterans is even simpler.
“Don't be ashamed to reach out to Mount Carmel. That's my message to my people.”
You can learn more about Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center here.
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