The Veterans Northeast Outreach Center Inc. (VNEOC) is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to providing and facilitating support to Merrimack Valley Veterans and their families, including eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. VNEOC was established in Lawrence, MA, in 1985 as a veteran center offering information and referral services to veterans and their families. Located in a storefront on Essex Street, the Center’s reputation grew as a place of support and comradeship for veterans throughout Lawrence and the Greater Merrimack Valley.
In those early years, a core group of dedicated veteran volunteers provided the services, and the organization was funded through the generosity of donors throughout the year. Eventually the center began to receive some grant funding for its programs, services, and outreach mission. As the center’s reputation grew, so did the need for space and greater accessibility to services. In 1993, VNEOC moved to Haverhill, MA and opened a new office on Wingate Street. As VNEOC’s experience in the veteran support community grew, the need for affordable housing and finding alternative paths to divert veterans in need from homelessness became more and more evident. In 1996, VNEOC purchased an old Victorian-style home at 65 Cedar Street, Haverhill, now referred to lovingly as “the Mansion,” to develop a transitional housing program to help area veterans make the needed steps from homelessness to independent self-supportive living. Opened in 1997, the VNEOC Mansion offers 21-single room occupancy community living spaces to help veterans take the steps they need to fulfil the goal of self-sufficiency.
Ever growing and expanding their human services support and housing programs, which already included a food pantry and clothing distribution center, in 2001 VNEOC acquired their current community center and offices at 10 Reed Street in Haverhill. Acquiring several parcels of land from the Archdioceses of Boston, VNEOC transformed the old St. Rita’s Parish Church into a thriving and vibrant veteran-focused community center. From this central location, VNEOC maintains its administrative offices and provides the bulk of its community services. The community center hosts veteran-focused events, activities, a weekly food pantry, resource fairs, and a quarterly service provider round table, all to great effect in the area and regional veteran community. To help further alleviate the pressing need for affordable veteran housing, in 2002 VNEOC constructed the O’Neil Building, a 10-unit single bedroom affordable housing facility right across the street from the community center.
Over the course of the next several years, VNEOC expanded their affordable housing portfolio and acquired housing properties in Haverhill, North Andover, Westford, Chelmsford, and Newburyport. Between these properties and the VA grant-funded Transition in Place housing program, VNEOC supports 65+ veterans with affordable housing and transitional housing options. The history of the Veterans Northeast Outreach Center is one of dynamic growth as it responds to the evolving needs of the veteran community and their families throughout eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Ever forward, VNEOC remains committed to its overarching mission to end veteran homelessness and provide the support services needed by veterans to become more self-sustainable.
