Modesto Vet Center finally was christened

Center is the state's first since 1995; facility to serve SJ Valley, Sierra foothills
By KEN CARLSON
kcarlson@modbee.com

For 10 years, organizations lobbied the federal government to put a Vet Center in Modesto.

On Thursday, the Modesto Vet Center finally was christened in an office building at 1219 N. Carpenter Road.

"It is a long time coming," said Roy Santiago, commander of the American Legion's 12th District, which oversees posts in Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced counties, and whose members wrote letters supporting the campaign.

"We have close to 30,000 veterans living in our area. The need is here for this center," Santiago said.

The Modesto center, which started counseling combat veterans in borrowed office space in December, already has assisted about 400 people, the Legion official said. The center's eight-member staff is set up to serve combat veterans and their families from the Northern San Joaquin Valley and the Sierra foothills.

Congress established the community-based centers in 1979 for Vietnam veterans who were struggling with many issues after returning home from combat.

In the 1990s, the government extended the services to combat veterans of World War II, the Korean War and Persian Gulf War. The Department of Veterans Affairs selected Modesto for one of the 23 new centers as soldiers return from Iraq and Afghanistan.

It's the first Vet Center to open in California since the Chico center opened in 1995.
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