Keys to Stability
Nation’s Finest Helps Veterans and Neighbors Thrive…
he restoration of a 105-year-old home did more than create permanent supportive housing for four formerly homeless veterans: it signals the continuation of a new life for one of Redding’s oldest neighborhoods.
The four-bedroom home at 2104 Waldon St. underwent a top-to-bottom renovation and opened last month. It is operated by Nation’s Finest, a nonprofit organization that provides veterans with housing, counseling, case management and mental health services.
Mike Dahl, a longtime advocate for veterans who serves as an advisor to Nation’s Finest, was the project manager for the renovation. He says restoring the house not only creates much-needed housing for veterans, but has a “cumulative” impact.
“The project had a collective effect including upgrading the neighborhood, creating landscaping based on the concept of crime prevention through environmental design, increasing property values and exposing the 140-year-old St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery adjoining the property,” Dahl says. “We provided a home for our veterans and restored part of old Redding.”
The Waldon Street project is popular with its neighbors as well. Kirkwood Hale, the co-owner of Plantable Nursery & Café, says he’s thrilled to see the improvements adjacent to his California Street business. “I think it’s going to be great. I see it as a good thing,” says Hale, who adds, “I see some opportunities in the future and having some kind of a connection. Maybe the residents will be interested in some gardening.”
“I love what they’re doing,” says Tyler Faires, a film producer and director of the Sundial Film Festival who lives on California Street near the Waldon Street home. “It’s pretty cool.”
Faires, who is active with the Neighborhood Watch program, says the Nation’s Finest renovation project joins Plantable, Pourboys Tapyard and Riverfront Playhouse as welcome additions to the neighborhood. “The whole block has taken on a transformation.”
Ronda Alvey, president of Riverfront Playhouse’s board of directors, also appreciates the neighborhood improvements. “We’re thrilled to see the energy and new businesses on the southwest side of downtown Redding at California and Gold streets. After many years, this little corner of downtown is buzzing with life again, and we’re so grateful for the support and community spirit growing all around us.”
The permanent housing available at the Waldon Street home adds to the resources Nation’s Finest can offer veterans. The organization, formerly known as the Veterans Resource Center, also operates a 12-bed transitional living facility on Park Marina Drive.
Rebecca Daricek, the site director for Nation’s Finest’s Redding office, says housing is always scarce but “we work with good property managers. We have a lot of hard-to-rent clients and they understand that but inventory is definitely an issue.”
The Redding office, which covers Shasta, Trinity, Tehama, Siskiyou, Modoc, Plumas and Lassen counties, currently serves 92 clients.
Daricek says unhoused clients are typically dealing with mental health and/or substance abuse issues, chronic unemployment and often, some form of post-traumatic stress disorder tied to their military service. A typical housed client has fallen behind on rent or utility payments and needs help.
Case managers at Nation’s Finest help clients build a toolbox of life skills, including creating a budget. Daricek says the three-tiered goal is to move clients from crisis to stability and then to an exit into a sustainable life.
Redding resident Tennille Thomas, who served as a yeoman in the Navy from 1995 to 2005, says she first sought help with her utility bills four years ago and returned to Nation’s Finest recently to get rental assistance.
“I would be homeless if Nation’s Finest didn’t exist,” says Thomas, who relocated to Redding after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Thomas, who is disabled, says she receives $1,600 a month in Social Security benefits and her rent is $907 a month plus utilities.
David Meadows says he had problems adjusting to civilian life after he was discharged from the Army after 12 years of service. The Alturas native, who grew up in Dunsmuir, said the death of his mother, and then the passing of his longtime girlfriend, “put me in a tailspin and my landlord was talking about evicting me.”
Meadows, who lives in a Shasta Lake trailer park with his dog, Shadow, contacted Nation’s Finest earlier this year “and they bailed me out. I’ve got nothing but good to say about the organization. They care about veterans a lot. They’ll help you out, get you lined out and going in the right direction.”•
Nation’s Finest
153 Hartnell Ave. Suite 100, Redding
(530) 223-3211
If you or someone you know is a veteran in crisis, please call the Veterans Crisis Line immediately to reach caring, qualified responders. Dial 988 then Press 1.
