Senator Bernie Sanders: Celebrate VTNG Family Readiness & Support Center Groundbreaking

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Camp Johnson. Thank you for joining us for the groundbreaking ceremony of the Vermont National Guard's new family readiness and support ceremony. Please take please take your seats and if you would silence your cell phones. Photographs are welcome throughout today's ceremony. We simply ask that you're respectful as the event proceeds. This new facility will bring together the many services that support our service members, veterans, and their families which are currently scattered across the installation under one modern purpose-built roof. Today marks the beginning of construction on that vision. At this time, I would like to invite Chaplain Stupert to deliver the invocation. Good afternoon. Hopefully, this prayer is a little better than the one I offered up for the weather. So, I apologize for that. I invite you to pray. Almighty God, today we gather to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Vermont National Guard Family Readiness Center. While the ceremonial shovels will begin the work today, I thank you for the hard work for all the leaders here at Camp Johnson over the last few years who have made this day possible. We also give thanks for the men and women who serve our communities and our nation and for the families who stand beside them, sharing in the sacrifices and responsibilities of military service. I ask that you would use this center and the personnel who will call it home to provide exceptional care and timely guidance to soldiers and airmen throughout Vermont. May this family readiness center be a place of connection and support for Vermont Guard members and their families. Guide and protect all involved in this endeavor and bless the work of their hands. I ask these things by the authority of my Lord and my God. Amen. Thank you, Chaplain Super. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome uh Chief Sorry, Chief Facilities Management Officer Jacob Roy. >> Thank you. Good afternoon. Uh on behalf of the facility management staff, thank you for attending today's groundbreaking ceremony. This project brings immense amount of pride and joy to our team. This new facility is a direct result of countless hours of work over the last 5 and a half years. All driven by a desire to provide something better, something truly needed for our service members, the veterans, and their families. The family service center concept began near in early 2021. It was presented to the congress as a congressionally directed spending project uh to our Vermont congressional delegation specifically with Senator Sanders. The project was approved in 2022, funded in 2023, received additional funding in 2025. This $5.8 $8 million project will consist of a 10,900 ft facility nearly doubling the size of the existing dilapitated building. While the project was brought to reality through the efforts of so many people, there are some that I would like to recognize at this time who played uh particularly important roles to get this project off the ground. Starting with Mike Blow and Pete Leer, they were instrumental in actually developing the project and bringing this concept forward. Lieutenant Colonel Keith Schnell is serving as a project manager for this project, working through design with our architectural team, SAS Architects, out of Burlington and is now overseeing construction with EF Wall from Barry. I also want to recognize Kim Fidelli and her finance and contracting team within the state military department. All of their hard work in helping move this project forward and actually bidding this project twice to get it across that finish line. Finally, I want to sincerely thank our congressional delegation and their staffs. Their support, advocacy, and commitment to this project helped get us over the finish line. Today marks a culmination of hard work, persistence, and collaboration. But more importantly, it marks the beginning of something that will serve our service members, veterans, and their families for many years to come. This building is more than bricks and mortar. It represents a commitment to taking care of the people who serve and the families who stand behind them. We are incredibly proud to see this vision become a reality and we look forward to the day that the doors open and this facility becomes serving the people that it was built for. Thank you again and thank you for helping us celebrate this important milestone. Thank you, Colonel Roy, for that explanation of the project. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the agent general of the Vermont National Guard, Major General Hank Carter. Thanks very much. Uh, and just a shout out, Colonel Roy, to you and your small but very capable team of both military, federal civilians, state civilians. You do amazing work. Uh, and we do get great support from our congressional delegation. But it's projects like this that you put together uh and you make it happen. And just once again, a round of applause for you and your team. Good afternoon and thank you all for being here this afternoon. Today we break ground on something that's been years in the making. A new 10,900 ft home for the men and women who take care of our Guard families. When complete, this facility will become one a one-stop shop for our soldiers, airmen, and their families. Easily accessible and designed to support their needs. If you haven't spent much time on this installation, you might not just realize how spread out our family support services currently are. Financial counseling is in one building, veteran services in another. Even our funeral honors team charged with rendering fi final honors to our Vermont veterans currently works out of a repurposed post exchange. Our team does tremendous work, but finding them and accessing their services is not easy. Our soldiers, airmen, and their families deserve better. The Family Readiness Support Center will fix that. Under one roof, we'll bring together family programs, sexual assault prevention and response, financial assistance, legal assistance, counseling, survivor outreach, suicide prevention, veterans services, alcohol and drug counseling, funeral honors, retirement services, and our chaplain corps. We will have a classroom and an exhibition space for yellow ribbon events, a computer lab for families to access services online, and a dedicated kitchen where people can sit down together instead of standing in a hallway. This isn't just about convenience. It's a it's about what we say to our families when we when they walk through the door. a modern, welcoming, purpose-built facility that tells them that they are a priority and not an afterthought, tucked into whatever space happens to be available. This building reinforces a commitment Vermont has led on for nearly 20 years. Back in 2006, Vermont pioneered an outreach model for returning soldiers and airmen to ensure nobody falls through the cracks. That program became a national benchmark, cementing Vermont's legacy and leading the way in family and veteran support. I want to specifically recognize Senator Sanders and Senator Welch, without whom this project would not exist. Senator Sanders and his staff secured the original funding for this facility back in 2022 and helped us take the first step towards realized vision. That builds on nearly two decades of unwaver unwavering support for the Vermont National Guard, veterans, and their families. When COVID-driven inflation drove costs beyond original projections, the project stalled. Senator Sanders and Senator Welch teamed up to secure critical additional funding to get us here today. without cutting a single program from the floor plan. Without their combined support, we would not be breaking ground today. Senators, on behalf of every service member and family member who will walk through these doors, thank you. None of this happens without our industry partners. I want to thank EF Wall of Berry, SAS Architectures of Burlington, two Vermont firms who have stir stood alongside the guard on project after project and who I know will deliver a facility that we can all take pride in. In a couple of years, when we cut the ribbon on this building, it will serve as a lynchpin for our commitment to our service members, their families, and our military community. It will be full of purpose. Every office within it will ensure that when guard family needs help, whether navigating a deployment, dealing with a loss, facing a financial hardship, or simply asking a question, they will find the answer in one place. Close to the gate, close to the heart of what we do. Thank you all for being part of this milestone. And let's go to work. Thank you. Thank you, General Harter. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Honorable Bernie Sanders, United States Senator from Vermont. Well, thank you very much. And I am delighted to be here at Camp Johnson uh to celebrate this really important groundbreaking. And I want to thank General Harter and his great staff. I want to thank the entire Vermont National Guard, their families, and everybody who has been involved uh to make this facility, the construction of this facility a reality. Vermont's National Guard members serve our state and our country. They respond to emergencies here and at home. They train to protect our nation and they deploy around the world when the country calls. But what is extremely important to remember and I think maybe the state of Vermont understands this better than anyone else is that the Vermont National Guard is more than the men and women who put on the uniform. It is their wives, their husbands, their partners, and their children who are also part of the Vermont National Guard family, and our job is to do everything that we can to support them. The new family readiness facility that we are opening today is a major step forward in doing that by providing increased services to Vermont National Guard families and to Vermont veterans in general. The National Guard community has been working with the Congressional delegation for years to help create this reality. And I am delighted to have been working with Senator Senator Welch uh to make sure that we are able we're able to provide the funding that was necessary. And that means that National Guard members and their families will now be able to better navigate deployments, reintegration, financial issues, career needs, and other aspects of military life. Just think for a moment, for one moment, what a deployment means to a family. It means that kids suddenly don't have their dad or their mom at home and they in fact worry whether or not their dad or mom will ever return home and when they will return home. That is enormous stress on Vermont families. And I think what we are all working hard to do is to ease that stress as one large family. So I just uh want to thank uh General Hart again and his staff for their great work. We have been proud to work with you, proud to work with Senator Welch and Congresswoman Balon, and we will continue our efforts because once again, we understand that the Vermont National Guard is a family. And that family is not just the men and women in uniform. It is the people back home, especially the children. So, let us continue to work together to provide the best services we can to the entire Vermont National Guard family. Thank you all very much. Thank you, Senator Sanders. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the Honorable Peter Welch, United States Senator from Vermont. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. Uh, thank you, General. Thank you, uh, Senator Sanders for your incredible leadership on this. Uh, thank you, Senator Ley beforehand, who established, I think, the Vermont or the National Guard Association uh, in Washington. And thank uh, my colleague, Congresswoman Balent, whose staff is here today, but she can't be here today. You know, Bernie said it, the guard is a family. And the moment we're here is fortunately very soon after so many members who were deployed in December returned home. And we don't know what those members who've been deployed are going through. We get very little information, but we know that they were very much in harm's way. We know that they face very difficult and challenging decisions, but as Senator Sanders said, their families are here and they're not here. And last week in my office, we met with about a dozen spouses and partners of me of of members who'd been deployed. In listening to the reality of what they had to contend with, they get a phone call in December. Usually the husband is being called to service and they have to leave like right away before the holiday. And then these families where they have kids and these kids are 2 years old, four years old, 13 years old with no preparation for these children to understand what's happening in their lives. And for whatever reason, the president calls these members to duty. Their promise is to report for duty. But the family left behind includes a four-year-old who can no longer sleep at night, wondering where her father is. That's hard. And that's repeated for every one of these guard families where the member is deployed. They don't complain, they serve. But that they don't complain and that they serve should not blind us to the suffering they have to experience and the hardship they have to experience. And the other reality that I feel a great sense of humility about as a person who's not served in the military, but who is benefited by those of you who do serve in the military, is that what you do is so important. What you do to help each other is so necessary. But for most of the country, including Vermont, it's invisible. Life goes on. That phone call did not come in to those other families. The night after a guard family got the phone call was a normal day for most of us, which means it's largely invisible. And it can create a sense of isolation for those members and for their families who are really struggling with this four-year-old who's crying for her father. So that's why General I think this and Bernie thank you for your leadership on this this family center where people can come together and give mutual support that is so absolutely essential to getting through the deployment to dealing with the real issues that are practical that are emotional but that are proudly profoundly important where you can come together in a single place not just to get the help and advice that you may need, but to get the mutual support that's so essential to provide to one another. So, I believe that this family center is as important as anything that is appropriated for the benefit of the guard being there to serve us. So I think all of us who've had anything to do with this feel very good that this facility will be here to help our families and that includes that four-year-old child who finally has his father back. Thank you all very much. Thank you, Senator Welch. At this time, I would like to welcome Miss Miriam Bole, director of family programs. Take these off here. Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Miriam Bole. I am the director of family programs for the Vermont National Guard. I am honored to speak today about our new family readiness center. and what it represents for our military families and veterans. To echo Major General Harter's comments, this new building represents our core tenant of wellness, readiness, and prevention or wrap. Providing the right resources at the right time for our service members, veterans, and their families. Our new building will be the centralized hub for all the programs and services house under wrap. These services can be found at vtguard.com and it includes family programs, suicide prevention, sexual assault prevention and response, deployment resources, military resiliency, chaplain services, and so much more. Under my purview, family programs includes our military and family readiness specialists. They are our resource and referral experts digging under rocks wherever they have to to find financial, mental health, try care, any issues that our service members, veterans, and families have. We also have our work for warriors prime employment services which offer comprehensive employment services open to our service members to our veterans and spouses and children who are age 17 and over. You can find more information about work for warriors at work for warriorsvt.org. org. Sorry, bt.org. We have our child and youth programming offering programming and events to Vermont Army National Guard kiddos from six to 17 years old as well as support for kiddos of other components through our Military Kids Vermont efforts. We are looking forward to having all of our child and youth programming, assets, everything. And finally under one roof cuz currently it is spread out between three preWorld War2 barracks converted to offices down on logistics road. Family programs also includes yellow ribbon and deployment services providing support before, during, and after our deployments. It also includes our survivor outreach services providing support to our gold star families and families of the fallen. We have our media services. Our media specialist keeps us connected to our geographically dispersed families through many social media platforms, different events and our kitchen spoons and combat boots webinars. We have our soldier and family readiness or SFRG group coordination which includes connecting with our families who may have who may be experiencing issues or need resources. this new build. In this new building, we will be able to collaborate with our ID card office, our retirement services, and encourage our families to visit the military museum right next door, but also to visit our fallen heroes memorial. This new building is an opportunity to work together seamlessly, and that's a good thing. And yes, let's not forget our geese. The Vermont family pro Vermont National Guard family program staff, our veterans, service members, and families extend our sincere thanks to all of those who made this happen. Just like to take a second to have my staff just um stand for a moment. We have Evan Brown, our military and service, military and readiness specialist. We have Lisa Larson who is our child and youth programming coordinator. We have Mrs. Kristen Moore who is our survivor outreach services coordinator. We have Kim Buckley who is my budget analyst, my contracting officer representative, my well just everything fiscal. We also have our sergeant first class Jessica Smith who also has wears many hats. She is our yellow ribbon coordinator. She is our our milit military kids Vermont organizer director. Uh she is also at the face with our families who are all facing deployments. And by the way, three of my staff members currently have their partners uh deployed right now. So they have a lot going on, but despite that, they carry on. So I also wanted to just mention, I'd be remiss in mentioning that the um Lieutenant Colonel retired David Leonard, who was the state family program director before me, also helped make this happen. So, thank you very much for being here and yay Joe, we're going to go off script here for a second because I just Mariam, you do such a nice job day in day out. You did a great job recognizing your folks, but we also want to recognize you for thank you for you and your small team. You help almost 3,000 Vermont National Guard folks uh day in day out. So, we really appreciate it. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Miriam. At this time, I invite Major General Harter, Senator Sanders, Senator Welch, Colonel Roy, and Miriam Bole to the Dirt Mound for the ceremonial groundbreaking. Put these on. >> Yep. >> All right. You ready? >> Okay. Excellent. >> All right. Thank you all. Please return to your seats. And now I'd like to invite Chaplain Stupert to do the benediction. Well, I invite you to stand. Let us pray. Almighty God, I thank you for your presence with us for this groundbreaking ceremony today. Thank you for giving our leaders both here and in DC the vision for this family readiness center and providing the resources required to make it a reality. May you continue to use Miriam and her team to provide great service to soldiers, airmen, and their families both now and at the completion of this building. Protect those here as they travel back to their communities and protect our verters across the world as they safeguard our sacred freedoms. I ask these things in your name. Amen. Thank you, Chapen. Super. Thank you all for joining us today as we break ground on a facility that serves Vermont gener Vermont Guard families for generations to come. This concludes our ceremony. On behalf of the Vermont National Guard, thank you for being here. And for Press, there will be a short opportunity to speak after we've wrapped. Thank you. Yes. Uh my name is Captain Ryan Fina. I work as a project manager in the construction and facility management office. Um, I got invited today for this ceremony. Um, as uh, Colonel Keith Schnell quarterbacked the project as our project manager. Um, one thing I did want to say is that of all the projects going on, this is my wife's favorite project as she uh is excited on uh, future deployments, she'll have the ability to come in and use all the uh, services allowed here in this in this wonderful new building. Um, the building's going to be uh, really revolutionary from what we currently have. Um, as they mentioned in the in the uh press release that these are some preWorld War II buildings. Um, and we're very excited to see the uh new renovations, the new construction, excuse me. It was very