Soldiers Workshop offers once-homeless veterans creative outlet

CEDAR RAPIDS — Jarome Thompson is deep in concentration.

His focus falls on two small pieces of pink-colored rosewood spinning quickly on a lathe in a basement workshop on the southwest side of Cedar Rapids.

The U.S. Army veteran takes great care in shaping and smoothing the wood pieces. The familiar form of a pen begins to emerge.

'I like the fact you're making something by hand,' he says.

Thompson, 54, is one of a handful of local veterans taking part in 'Soldiers Workshop,' a program offered by Hawkeye Area Community Action Program's Operation Home initiative.

Operation Home helps homeless veterans and those at-risk of homelessness find housing and other resources.

Soldiers Workshop operates in partnership with the Corridor Woodturners Association and Matthew 25, a nonprofit organization located at 201 3rd Ave. SW, which helps to strengthen and elevate neighborhoods on the west side of Cedar Rapids.

The goal is to teach veterans like Thompson woodturning techniques. GoDaddy donated a website, which hasn't launched yet, where veterans in the program are to be able to sell the things they make in the workshop.

Thompson started attending the classes — which take place at 6 p.m. on Thursdays in the basement of Matthew 25 — about three weeks ago. Though he has done woodworking since high school, woodturning is a new skill for him.

'I've always liked working with wood,' he said. 'I like the natural look of the wood.'

He has already made two pens and had a buyer lined up before the second pen was even finished.

MAKE SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL

Operation Home supervisor Dusty Noble said Soldiers Workshop is an important piece of the services his agency offers clients.

'In my experience, when someone has experienced homelessness, it's a very traumatic experience,' he said. 'Once you get stabilized, there's definitely a period of adjustment, having gone through all that.'

Nearly 200 homeless vets in 11 counties have been served by Operation Home since October. The majority of the cases are in Linn County and includes veterans of all ages — those who have served from World War II and Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The program operates under a 'housing first' philosophy, which means getting veterans housed as quickly as possible and then addressing the circumstances behind their homelessness. 'Once they're stabilized in that way, we assess the rest of the barriers and get them connected with appropriate local resources,' Noble said.

Program participants receive three months of financial assistance to pay for housing and can then reapply for up to nine months.

Noble said Soldiers Workshop helps veterans rebuild their lives.

'Obviously, they see a lot of social workers, they see a lot of case workers. It's tremendously therapeutic for them to have a place to go where their present circumstances or maybe their past mistakes ... is not a focus point, and it's actually not a point whatsoever,' he said.

'We just have a place where they can come and they can make something beautiful and go home.'

TURNING A NEW PAGE

Thompson served as a private first class in the Army and was stationed in Germany from 1979 to 1983. That was long before he came to Cedar Rapids seeking work as a truck driver and found himself stranded when he was turned down for a job.

Without a place to call home, Thompson said he connected with Operation Home about one year ago.

Agency officials helped Thompson find an apartment and connected him with Goodwill of the Heartland's Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, which assisted more than 300 veterans in the Cedar Rapids and Quad Cities areas find jobs last year.

Thompson found work at O'Reilly Auto Parts, but he was unable to continue there due to ongoing medical problems that twice landed him in the hospital.

He isn't working now, but has qualified for Social Security disability benefits, he said.

That doesn't mean he's not keeping busy.

Thompson, who at one time in his life was named a woodworking grand champion at a county fair in Wyoming, is hoping to set up a home workshop at the apartment Operation Home officials helped him secure. He has already purchased a few tools and envisions having a farmers market booth in the future.

HOW TO HELP

Soldiers Workshop relies on donated equipment and materials, including pen kits. Those interested in donating or getting involved should contact Noble at (319) 739-1559 or via email at dnoble@hacap.org. Corridor Woodturners Association members donate their time as instructors and Matthew 25 donates use of its tools and the basement workshop space. About seven veterans have come on a regular basis since the program waslaunched about six months ago.

Participants are starting with pens, Noble said, because they require low overhead and can be made relatively quickly, in a few hours. Down the road, he envisions the workshop expanding to more elaborate projects like cabinetry and into other areas beyond woodworking. 'This has been an idea of mine for a long time,' he said. 'I've always thought it would be a really neat thing to have a creative outlet as part of our program.'