Nevada County receives $10 million grant to improve veterans halls, senior services
GRASS VALLEY – Nevada County is giving back to those who fought for our freedom, while also engaging the community. The county was awarded a $10 million grant by the California Strategic Growth Council. The money is going toward upgrading veterans halls and enhancing senior services.
"Any time veterans get extra money it's a benefit to all of us so I'm excited about the money coming into this county," said veteran Gregory Thompson.
This veteran says he has a lot of love for the veterans halls in Nevada County and all over the state, that the buildings mean a lot to both veterans and the community, but he also says they aren't being used to their full potential.
"Most of them do need a little attention because of the underutilization of them," he said.
They'll be getting the attention they need, $8.4 million will go into renovating the two veterans buildings in the county.
"The grant comes from the state of California. It's a community resiliency grant meaning during times of natural disasters, fires, snowstorms, adverse weather. During those times usually our veterans halls are the places we go for cooling shelters and warming centers," said Nevada County Veterans Services Officer David West.
A bulk of the money will go toward fixing rusty pipes, replacing windows, repairing the elevator, redoing the kitchen and modernizing the nearly 100-year-old building complete with the latest tech.
"The goal is to refurbish our veterans hall and hopefully make it so we don't have to do upgrades for it for another hundred years," said West.
The rest of the $10 million will go toward general senior services like cooking classes, helping older adults build comfort with technology and providing information needed to manage emergency situations.
"There's not a lot of resources here for activities to do and hang out making the vets hall a place where the veterans want to go to is good for mental health good for exercise," said West.
"To all of us, it's a great thing," said Thompson.
This is a three-year grant so the county says that all renovations should be done by the end of 2027.