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ROCHESTER, N.Y. - The Army Reserve took another step in enhancing Soldier and family quality of life with the opening of the nation's first "virtual installation" at the Wadsworth Army Reserve Center, Sept. 12.
Although "virtual" brings to mind images of computer games and make-believe, this new concept, known as the Army Strong Community Center was the vision of Mrs. Laura Stultz, wife of Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz, chief of the Army Reserve.
Challenged by Soldiers ready to answer the call of duty from civilian life and yet living far from a traditional military base, Mrs. Stultz envisioned a central location where service members and families could access benefits, support channels, information, resources and referrals.
In September 2008, at the request of Lt. Gen. Stultz, site locators began searching for suitable locations to open the community centers. Tom Cannon, site locator for the 99th Regional Support Command, searched the 13 state northeast region for a site to fit the request.
Maj. Gen. Norbert Rappl (retired), who is currently serving as a New York Army Reserve ambassador, immediately recognized the potential benefits of the program.
"It provides a place for Soldiers and families that are living here in the community to come get answers to questions," he said.
Rappl said the original plan for the center was to place it in a location near a supermarket or mall, but he recommended the Reserve Center housing his former command, the 98th Division, be considered for the project.
According to Rappl, Cannon saw the benefits of adding the ASCC to the Reserve Center. Besides the advantage of being located near a major highway, the current Reserve Center is also serviced by bus transportation, contains an existing ID card facility and a Post Exchange where Soldiers and families can take advantage of military savings while shopping.
An additional, unforeseen benefit was the support from the 98th Division to provide the ASCC with all the necessary equipment to get up and running while funding was still being worked out. With this assistance, the ASCC was able to unofficially begin assisting families in December of 2008, a mere three months after the initial location search had begun.
Since the unofficial December opening, the ASCC has provided services to 650 military families, including active Army, Reserve, and National Guard Soldiers. They have also been able to assist families in all of the other military branches.
Although mainly an Army program, Marianne Sernoffsky, an ASCC employee, clarified that the plan is to aid all service members, veterans, and their families.
With such ambitious goals, it was important that the employees of the center partner with the local community. Rappl explained that the employees put in extensive hours and intense work getting out into the greater Rochester area and ensuring that the ASCC mission and resources were presented to the community and that support for the Soldiers and their families was obtained.
Presented first to the Red Cross and Veteran's Affairs hospital, Sernoffsky and the other ASCC employees were soon referred to other community locations not immediately affiliated with the military and yet anxious to help. Across Rochester the community members and businesses rallied to provide support to the ASCC and to assist in not only getting the word out, but assisting families in whatever ways they could.
An example of the efforts put forth by the ASCC was highlighted in a recent visit by a new Army wife. Married only a month, she was separated from her husband when he received orders to report to Korea. The wife wished to accompany her husband to his new duty station and arrived at the center seeking assistance with Army procedures and the relocation process.
Not only were the employees at the center able to assist the woman in obtaining her ID card, Sernoffsky revealed, but they were also able to begin walking her through the steps to be reunited with her husband in Korea.
Darryl W. Porter, assistant to the mayor, city of Rochester, pointed out that success stories like these will need continued partnership between the local community and the Army Reserves.
"Without the community, this would not be successful" he explained.
With 500 families already served, and backed by a strong community partnership, the ASCC is expected to reach even further into this community as time goes on. With their initial success and a continued commitment to Soldiers and families, the Rochester ASCC will serve as a model to the other centers expected to be constructed across the country in the future.
| Date Taken: | 09.12.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 09.16.2009 14:30 |
| Story ID: | 38869 |
| Location: | ROCHESTER, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 129 |
| Downloads: | 119 |
This work, Bringing Help Closer to Home, by SFC Alyn-Michael Macleod, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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