Local group looks to make veterans shelter a reality

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When a military veteran leaves the service, it can sometimes be difficult to get adjusted to civilian life and return to the workforce. Currently, the closest veterans shelter to the Twin Lakes Area is located in Memphis, but a local group is looking to change that. A building located at 429 East Ninth Street in Mountain Home was officially purchased December 29th with the purpose of transforming it into the Bob Davis Veterans Shelter for men.

Baxter Insurance owner and operator Joanna Baxter-Farris serves as the secretary/treasurer of the shelter’s board, and she says the goal is to provide local veterans with a residence until they can get trained with a job and back on their feet.

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The shelter in Memphis is known as Alpha Omega Veterans Services, Inc. The group organizing the local shelter went to Memphis to get a view of its services, and Baxter-Farris says the organization was established by a mother whose two sons returned from the Vietnam War suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

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The Bob Davis Veterans Shelter project began over a year ago with a benefit motorcycle rally. The Twin Lakes Thunder Rally has raised funds for the shelter, which Baxter-Farris says will serve as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

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The shelter will be named after local machine shop owner Bob Davis. He has been asked in the past to build parts for an old motorcycle by the Smithsonian Institute, and he has shipped old motorcycle parts all over the world. Baxter-Farris says Davis has served as a father figure to local motorcycle enthusiasts. She adds the group organizing the shelter is not a motorcycle group. She says it’s a group of individuals seeing a need for the shelter, and some happen to ride motorcycles.

For more information about the shelter or donations, contact Baxter-Farris at 870-424-3535.

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