A veteran non-profit organization from Pennsylvania is expanding its efforts to help homeless veterans into Ohio, with sights on making the Licking-Muskingum County border its central location within the Buckeye State.

The VALOR Clinic Foundation already has one dedicated veterans sanctuary in Kunkletown, Pennsylvania and is now working to replicate it in Fallsburg.

The sanctuary serves as a safe place for veterans to receive the training and counseling needed in order to transition back into society after facing certain psychological barriers that previously kept them from living a functional, post-duty life.

The SGT Kevin Lannon Veterans Sanctuary,or Kevin’s House, is a former school building from the 1930s located on Route 586. It was donated by Vaughn and Linda Richards in 2012 and has been a project for VALOR ever since.

VALOR is funding renovations entirely through donations and grants and is seeking any volunteers with building skills to help with projects such as carpentry, drywall, plumbing and electrical work.

“We just don’t have the funds to have a contractor come in and fix this, fix that, do the other thing,” said Vaughn Richards. He further said how thankful VALOR would be for any time and effort volunteers donate to the cause.

Under the direction of project manager, Steve Bullock, the group has so far repaired the roof, painted the building and installed new gutters and downspouts.

When complete, Kevin’s House will have the room capacity for 6-8 residents, including a kitchen, dining room, classroom, living area and storage facility.

Bullock, a veteran who served 24 years in the Ohio Army National Guard with nine deployments in Germany, said helping veterans in need through VALOR is how he wants to spend his retirement.

Bullock especially noted how he wants to help reduce the number of veteran suicides per day, which is around 20, according to the United States Department of Veteran Affairs.

In order to combat that rate, VALOR offers certified counseling services for veterans by other veterans who have fought in war.

“We’ve had a real good success rate through several different programs, not only live in ones, but even actually weekend retreats and other veteran outreach programs that we’re working on,” said Bullock.

According to VALOR’s founder and 26 year veteran of the Special Forces, Mark Baylis, about 40% of the organization’s 350 veterans who receive counseling services through VALOR are suicidal.

“Every single one of them is alive,” said Baylis.

In addition to mental health services, VALOR also helps veterans transition back into society as civilians, with less than 10% of its veterans who go through the homeless shelter program ever living on the streets again.

“If you can help them see the world like a civilian, then they can behave more like a civilian and things go much better,” said Baylis.

Before those services can begin at Kevin’s House, VALOR continues to fulfill its mission by hosting “stand downs” in communities across Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey.

A stand down is a military term used during times such as a ceasefire in which leaders come together to strategize.

“So that’s what we’re trying to do here,” said Vaughn Richards of VALOR. “What happened, what went wrong, what went right? We’re trying to fix it.”

The group was in Zanesville and Newark this past weekend handing out clothes, food and personal hygiene products the homeless, both veterans and civilians.

On Saturday, 81 homeless people were served in Zanesville with 21 being veterans, and in Newark, 83 homeless people were served, including 14 veterans.

“That’s a lot of homeless people for a small town like Zanesville,” said Baylis.

Before VALOR was ever a thought for Baylis, he dedicated his time to helping homeless veterans all on his own.

“It started out with me just being a good samaritan, walking into homeless camps where I heard vets were and giving them things like food or firewood or things they need and then trying to connect them to housing resources to try to get them placed,” said Baylis.

That was 10 years ago. Baylis said the demand for help became too much to handle alone, so he had to organize. Now, Baylis has transitioned his work into a non-profit organization spanning across three states.

“There’s a great need going all across the whole country, and we just keep seeming to grow and grow and grow,” said Baylis.

It was a local couple, John and Barb Hoopes, who helped VALOR grow into Muskingum County, Baylis said.

“They were the two, her in particular, that got us into Zanesville,” Baylis said.

For their dedication to helping the homeless veterans of Zanesville, both John and Barb Hoopes received VALOR’s Pathfinder award on Saturday.