Donations needed to support veterans retreat center

Sydney Kostus
·2 min read

LAKE HARMONY, CARBON COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— Life after the military isn’t always easy for veterans, so one non-profit in the Poconos is making sure it’s there to help them get back on their feet. 28/22 News Reporter Sydney Kostus met with the non-profit to discuss how it needs your help to continue its mission.

Sergeant Major Mark Baylis stacks piles and piles of paperwork. The pages run by the thousands and represent veterans who received help just in the last year through his non-profit, the VALOR Clinic Foundation.

“This is time to learn to be a civilian. We often say we train them plenty for war, we don’t train them to come home,” said SGM Mark Baylis, Retired U.S. Army Veteran/Founder, of VALOR Clinic Foundation

The organization has been around since 2012 with numerous resources, such as providing homeless shelters for vets across our region along with a food pantry. But one of its programs called, “Veterans Unstoppable” has grown tremendously. It’s a three-day retreat where veterans hunt, fish, and learn ways to adjust to life as a civilian.

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“We’ve had no suicides and about 450 or so vets have come through our retreats since 2012, ” SGM Baylis told 28/22 News.

The veteran suicide rate is 1.5 times higher than the general population, with nearly 17 veterans dying by suicide every day in 2020. These numbers led to the expansion of the retreat program in Carbon County.

This home on Meckes Lane in Lake Harmony is not your regular home; it currently serves as VALOR’s headquarters all part of its newest retreat center.

With blueprints showing plans for the retreat center compound along the road, vets will have all the resources in a tranquil environment to help them let go of the emotional scars of war.

“We would hope that if people knew a vet having relationship problems at home or at work, getting fired a lot at work, maybe they suggest that they come hang out with us. They can come hang out with us; they can just show up,” SGM Baylis said.

With no end date in sight as of yet, Baylis says they need the community’s support to bring these plans to life.

“Time, treasures, or talents. We would love any of them. You can give us turkeys or blue jeans or come swing a hammer or help us pay the electric bill,” SGM Baylis explained.

If you’d like to donate to the VALOR Clinic Foundation, visit their Facebook page.

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