Veterans finding community and help at a Downtown Bay City workshop and learning center

Veterans seeking a sense of purpose and community are finding it inside the Veterans Workshop & Learning Center, at the edge of Downtown Bay City.

This month, we observe Veterans Day on Mon., Nov. 11. The day honors all military veterans, living or deceased. The armistice that ended World War I, which took place on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. 

Ashley BrownGuitars, which will end up in the hands of area veterans, hang from a classroom wall.The local center at 1009 N. Madison Ave. offers year-round services including everything from classes and informal mental health support to guest speakers and hands-on workshops. The goal is to foster a sense of community and purpose among veterans.

The center, which opened almost two years ago, is a program of the Bay Veterans Foundation.

Ashley BrownInside a wood shop, which Markstrom calls the "jewel" of the center, veterans build handcrafted items. While some items are for sale, the true purpose behind creating them is learning new skills and feeling a sense of accomplishment..Bay Veterans Foundation President Keith Markstrom and board member Jim Reha tell stories about the development of the program and the people it’s helped as they lead an informal tour of the building.

One of the first stops on the tour is a lounge with tables and chairs for informal gatherings. As Markstrom and Reha sit in the room, veterans and volunteers stop in to offer updates on topics such as when a storage shed will be delivered. 

Ashley BrownThe wooden desks inside the center are made from wood that's likely 200 years old.“We’re going in so many different directions,” Markstrom says. “Every day something new comes at us. It’s good stuff, but wow.”

They’re working with a Saginaw Valley State University student studying for a Masters of Social Work to create a way to capture the impact of their work.

Ashley BrownA social worker is available for conversations once a week inside a quiet room at the center.For now, though, they rely on anecdotal evidence to illustrate that what they’re doing matters.

From the lounge, Markstrom and Reha walk down a hall and into a classroom filled with a horseshoe-shaped table lined with chairs. Guitars hang from the wall near the door while a laptop computer sits on the tables. Hand-crafted cutting boards, charcuterie boards, and more fill countertops.

Ashley BrownThe building that now houses the Veterans Workshop & Learning Center was once a boarding house and restaurant near the train depot. A photo of the original building hangs on the wall today.The guitars are part of two programs, Guitars2Vets and Guitars4Vets. Guitars4Vets is a national Veterans Administration program for veterans suffering from PTSD, brain injuries, or depression. Guitar2Vets is a local program and open to anyone. 

Veterans who complete guitar classes at the center walk away with a free guitar. 

Ashley BrownMarkstrom, President of the Bay Veterans Foundation, explains how the center helps people find a mission and purpose.The laptop came from AT&T, which provided refurbished technology to distribute to local veterans. 

The wooden items were made in the shop and are for sale until Dec. 1. The Foundation has already made $5,000 selling these handcrafted creations.

Sales aren't the point of the program, though.

Ashley BrownWooden cutting boards, charcuterie boards, and more items created inside the center are for sale for the rest of this month.“It also creates a sense of purpose,” Markstrom says. “It is the process of teaching folks how to do this, how to finish, or how to sand. It’s not the product.”

The room also houses a joint program with teens from Eastern High School. The teens from the alternative high school come to the Veterans Center weekly to learn about careers and try their hand at creating in the woodworking or metal workshops.

Ashley BrownWoodside Ace Hardware in Essexville donated thousands of dollars worth of tools and hardware to the center.“They can make small projects and feel a sense of accomplishment,” Markstrom says. “It’s a great group of kids.”

Nearby is a quiet room with two small chairs.

“We’re big into mental health,” Markstrom says as he steps into the small room. “We’ve got a Licensed Master Social Worker here on Wednesdays at 4 pm for any veteran who wants to walk in and talk about what their issues might be.”

Ashley BrownThe back of the building today, which faces the Pere Marquette Depot, was once the front. The lower portion was a restaurant, while the second floor served as a boarding house.Mental health is a major concern for many veterans. The National Institute of Health reports that 14% to 16% of U.S. service members deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq have been affected by PTSD or depression. The NIH also indicates that suicide, traumatic brain injuries, substance abuse disorder, and interpersonal violence all affect this population. 

The problem began long before conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. In the Civil War, people talked about “soldier’s heart.” It was called “shell shock” in World War 1 and “combat fatigue” in Vietnam.

Ashley BrownRecently, the center began adjusting equipment so it can be raised and lowered, making it easier for people in wheelchairs or on stools to work.Reha and Markstrom are reluctant to say how many veterans here are suffering. 

“It’s really hard to put a number on it,” Markstrom says. “A lot of it’s very subjective. The more you try to deal with that issue and engage people, the more you find out it’s pretty pervasive.”

He doesn’t share any details about any one person, but says it’s not uncommon to find veterans here who are living with PTSD, depression, or addiction.

Ashley BrownA photo of the original depot in Downtown Bay City hangs on the wall inside the Veterans Workshop & Learning Center“You would never know who in here (had issues) if you came in and interacted, unless you get into a discussion. I think one of the best things we’re doing here is allowing folks to come in and experience an improved quality of life just by sharing and being with others who can relate to your situation.”

As Markstrom talks, he keeps moving through the building. 

Ashley BrownInside the wood shop, an electric board donated by ESCON Group and Medler Electric is a tool for learning electrical skills.In the office space, the floor is crafted from timber end pieces. Desks were built from the floor joists. The building dates back to the 1890s.

“These boards probably came over a hundred years ago from a 100-year-old tree, so we’re working on 200-year-old pieces of wood here,” Markstrom says.

Ashley BrownEquipment inside the wood shop is mobile, so the room can be rearranged as needed.In a nearby metal shop, equipment fills nearly every available space. Welders, plasma cutters, drill presses, raw materials, and more line the walls and rest on shelves. 

“A lot of this was donated,” Markstrom says. “Hemlock Semi-Conductor gave us $10,000 toward welding equipment.”

It’s the same in the nearby woodshop where donated equipment and materials fill every inch of the room.

Ashley BrownThe center hosts speakers from the VA Medical Center and other agencies to explain benefits and programs to the veterans.The tool crib is filled with supplies from Woodside Ace Hardware, 86 Woodside Ave. in Essexville. 

“They donated about $20,000 worth of tools and hardware,” Markstrom says.

ESCON Group, 6 Jefferson Court in Bay City, and Medler Electric Co., 110 Patterson Ave. in Bay City, donated a board to teach electrical wiring.

Whether you’re in one of the shops or the classroom, you’ll find volunteers and veterans working together.

Ashley BrownThe metal shop is crowded with donated equipment and materials, but storage sheds are on the way to make more room.“It’s interesting to see when somebody comes in here with no perceived talent, how good they become because they now have resources,” Markstrom says. “Everybody is creative. You just have to explore and expose what they like.”

Woven through the entire facility is the importance of mental health. Even the landscaping around the parking lot was donated by a family that lost a veteran to suicide.

“It gives us an opportunity to talk about mental health and depression and how do you get help,” Markstrom says.

Ashley BrownEngraved bricks for the Bay County Historical Society and wooden nametags are two of the products being created at the center.“We do four suicide awareness prevention trainings a year, which shows people how to look for signs and symptoms. How do you talk to somebody if you think they’re going to harm themselves? It’s pretty brutal. It’s ‘Are you thinking of harming yourself? Are you thinking of killing yourself?’ It’s very direct.”

Markstrom adds that the center doesn’t have professional counselors on staff. Instead, the trainings focus on how a non-professional can respond to someone they care about.

“We’re not a social service agency. We’re not professional in that sense, but we’re engaging that community to help us,” he says.

Less than two years after the doors opened, Markstrom is still refining the center.

Ashley BrownStudents from Eastern High School meet at the center once a week for career exploration and hands-on training in the workshops.For example, a veteran in a wheelchair arrived one day. The doors, hallways, and bathrooms all accommodated the chair. But the workshops were another story.

“The designers thought about making sure the building was accessible, but now we have to consider how to make the equipment accessible,” Markstrom says.

Moving equipment onto tables that can be raised and lowered not only made the workshops accessible for a person in a wheelchair, it also makes it easier for older veterans to sit while they work.

Ashley BrownMore handmade wooden crafts fill the counters of a kitchen inside the center.“Sometimes these old legs have a hard time,” he says.

The program also is creating its own funding sources.

Plaques on the wall in a hall near the entrance commemorate donors. The plaques are engraved inside the workshop.

In the same room, people are engraving bricks for a Commemorative Brick Walk at the Historical Museum of Bay County, 321 Washington Ave. in Bay City. 

Ashley BrownAn October sale of handmade items generated thousands of dollars. It was so successful that it was extended until Dec. 1.Markstrom reels off other paid projects including making wooden cutting boards for Michigan Sugar; signs explaining the Feet on the Street district in Downtown Bay City last summer; and the building of a system to store life preservers aboard the Appledore. 

Another side benefit of the projects is raising the visibility of the veterans center. Markstrom says it’s hard to know where to publicize the program.

“How do we hit that demographic, especially younger veterans. They don’t congregate any one place,” Markstrom says “Anytime we can work with a group, it takes the message to people.”

The mission goes beyond veterans too. 

Reha, who taught high school history for 35 years, is planning to take a group of veterans to Cramer Middle School to talk about the Congressional Medal of Honor. 

Reha took another group to a writing class at Central High School as the teens worked on essays to enter into a Veterans of Foreign Wars scholarship contest. He adds the Central teens hope to soon visit the USS Edson soon, where Reha is the Director of Education Programs.

Whenever people ask how they can help, Markstrom has a quick answer. 

“The best thing you can do to help us if you have a veteran in your family, your neighborhood, or at your work, share this place. It’s a lot of word of mouth,” he says.