Veterans center takes helm of Marywood South campus

Jim Lockwood, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·3 min read

Mar. 10—SCRANTON — Diane Yoder arrived in town Saturday to begin converting the newly purchased Marywood South campus into the Patriot Resource Center at Marywood. The new facility will assist veterans and community first-responders in need.

Nearly three dozen local veterans greeted her, ready to lend helping hands to her organization, the Jarett Yoder Foundation that bought the property, she told a crowd of over 150 people at a ribbon-cutting Tuesday.

"When I came here on Saturday, there were 35 veterans here to help me clean up," Yoder said, her voice choking with emotion. "That meant so much."

The ceremony marked a new chapter for the vacant campus, the former Scranton State School for the Deaf.

Marywood University acquired the 10-acre property, which straddles Scranton and Dunmore, from the state in 2011 for $500,000, but never used it and started trying to sell it in 2015.

Sister Mary Persico, I.H.M., Ed.D., president of Marywood University, said over 300 prospective buyers looked at the campus.

Recent proposals, including an artists' apartment complex from a Los Angeles developer, and a plan for an art school and retreat center by the Elysian Sanctuary, fell through.

The Patriot Resource Center will return the campus to one of service that "carries on the sacred legacy of what it always was," Persico told the crowd.

"The right buyer is here with us today, the person who is going to make this land sacred again by serving people who have served us for many, many years and in many, many ways," Persico said. "Thank you, Diane, for being the right buyer."

Yoder founded the Berks County-based charity after her son Jarett died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan in 2013, as he served the Pennsylvania Army National Guard.

The Patriot Resource Center will be open to active military, veterans and first responders, including firefighters, emergency medical service workers and police officers.

Valhalla Veterans Services, which offers counseling services, will relocate from Electric Street to a Patriot Resources Center building at 1800 N. Washington Ave. in Scranton.

The North Washington Avenue building, the newest of the several structures on the campus in Green Ridge, is largely move-in ready, Yoder said in an interview after the ceremony.

The other buildings on the campus, situated in Dunmore, will require renovations phased in over time, Yoder said.

Lackawanna County Veterans Affairs Director David Eisele likened the new Patriot Resource Center to a key piece of a puzzle of assisting veterans in need.

"This is a godsend," Eisele said of the new center. "We are a huge veteran-oriented community. We have a lot of great organizations and for you guys to put it in one stop and make it so easily accessible, it's going to be great for the community and we'd like to welcome you."

The property had a list price of $2.2 million last year. Yoder and Persico declined to divulge the sales price.

Yoder said the Patriot Resource Center will dedicate a room in honor of veteran Beau Biden, the late son of President Joe Biden, whose boyhood home is nearby in Green Ridge.

Contact the writer:

jlockwood@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5185;

@jlockwoodTT on Twitter.

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