A new home for Freedom Foundation

After nearly a decade of helping military veterans with basic needs and support, the Freedom Foundation now has a newly-renovated location to call home. And not only is the facility more well-suited for the Foundation’s work, its highly-visible location — a former restaurant building at 4001 Center Point Road NE — is drawing more attention […]

After nearly a decade of helping military veterans with basic needs and support, the Freedom Foundation now has a newly-renovated location to call home. And not only is the facility more well-suited for the Foundation’s work, its highly-visible location — a former restaurant building at 4001 Center Point Road NE — is drawing more attention to the organization as a whole.

“One of the nice things about our new location is that we’re obviously more accessible,” said executive director Lexi Coberly, who joined the Foundation in November 2020. “We have a bus line right in front of us, a bike trail right there. And ample parking. I think the biggest deterrent (of our previous) location was that people didn’t know where we were. They also didn’t feel very safe because of the location. Now we’re in a safer location. I mean, that’s huge.” The nonprofit Freedom Foundation was formed July 10, 2013, by a group of local veterans who wanted to help other veterans. The group briefly worked from the former Affordable Plumbing building at 816 First Ave. NW, then moved for about a year to the Veterans Memorial Building — a space that quickly became impractical due to expanded services and a shortage of available parking. About eight years ago, the group relocated to a storefront at 609 Center Point Road NE, just north of Coe College, and has seen demand for its services expand each year. And after months of renovations, the Foundation began operations in its newest home March 13. The largest single service provided by the Freedom Foundation is a pantry that provides food, personal care and household essentials for eligible veterans — those who can provide a DD-214 form to verify their honorable discharge from any type of military service — up to twice a month. Veterans are allowed to choose their own items as needed. The pantry’s offerings were expanded beyond food items after the Foundation received a large donation of laundry detergent. “It went out so fast, and we realized there was a real need,” Ms. Coberly said. “These (vets) are struggling to even buy laundry soap and basics like toilet paper. The costs of everything are going up and their Social Security, their benefits, whatever they’re getting for income is not matching what’s going out. “We’ve noticed a really big increase, especially now that we’re moved, in the number of vets that have become reliant on our pantry,” she added. “Some of them would come once in a blue moon, if their car broke down and they were in a bind. Now they’re here every two weeks.” Many veterans aren’t receiving the assistance they need from the VA and other service organizations for various reasons, Ms. Coberly said, and they don’t always readily seek out extra aid. “It’s hard for them to come in and ask for help,” Ms. Coberly said. “They served our country, and they have a lot of pride.” Another major Freedom Foundation service is a luncheon served each Thursday, prepared by volunteers and open to all qualified veterans. Like the pantry, the weekly luncheon has seen growing demand.  “Last Thursday, we served 70 veterans, which is huge for us,” Ms. Coberly said. “We were normally serving over 100 for the holiday lunches, but to get where we’re at (weekly) — that’s about 20 more vets than we’d seen at our previous location. It’s a free meal, and for a lot of them it’s the only home-cooked meal that they get.” Yet beyond meeting veterans’ material needs, there’s a larger service the Freedom Foundation provides — a venue for veterans to spend time together. “Of all our services and support, the biggest thing to take away is the camaraderie,” Ms. Coberly said. “It’s the chance for vets to talk to other vets, which is huge, because a lot of them will not even talk to their spouses or their family or close friends that are not vets because they don’t understand what they went through. So this is a gathering place for all of them. I always like to joke that they tell a lot of lies and very few truths. It’s just a fun get-together. They get a meal, they get a dessert, but they get that companionship with each other.” The campaign to move to a larger facility began when a longtime supporter noticed that the Foundation was outgrowing its current location. “But at that moment, we weren’t financially ready for a move,” Ms. Coberly said. A plan was developed whereby the supporter would purchase a new building, rent it to the Foundation, and pay for half of any needed renovations. However, that still left the Foundation short of needed resources for the $1.4 million project. However, a major boost was provided from a $990,000 Nonprofit Innovation Grant award from the State of Iowa in September 2022, using funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. Ms. Coberly said the grant came as a surprise. “I kept telling the board ‘don’t count on that,’” she said. “We have to find other ways. Just think in the state of Iowa how many groups (were) competing for that grant money. And I kid you not, I just got the most generic email that announced the grant winners and I thought ‘OK, let me see who I know in this area that got it.’ And then I saw the Freedom Foundation for $990,000. My husband had to look at it, because he said ‘don’t tell anybody until I look at it to make sure that I was correct.’” An extra boost came via a $50,000 matching grant from the Hall-Perrine Foundation. “We put out a call to the community to get the match, and they stepped up big time,” Ms. Coberly said. “So we were able to purchase the building. We didn’t think that was ever going to happen.” The building was essentially gutted and extensively renovated, and now includes a large gathering space for meals, a big-screen TV, pool table, conference table, storage space for pantry items and a modern kitchen for meal preparation and food storage. Other Freedom Foundation services include a veterans’ shelter program, through a partnership with Willis Dady Homeless Services, and an emergency financial assistance fund for veterans who need help with utility bills, rent and other expenses. The Foundation now provides services to nearly 600 veterans from across Eastern Iowa. Donations pay for all Freedom Foundation services, and dozens of volunteers work regularly to provide those services — Ms. Coberly is the group’s sole paid employee. Board members use their connections with local businesses to garner extra support as needed, through food drives and other activities. “The community and our donors,” she said. “That’s how we operate.” Since the new building is more energy-efficient, and with no ongoing rent payments, expenses have dropped somewhat. And Ms. Coberly said she hopes to reach out to younger veterans through more recreational activities and the availability of an outdoor patio. But beyond the physical advantages of a new home, Ms. Coberly said there’s been noticeable changes in atmosphere as well. “In the (few) weeks we’ve been open, one of my volunteers noticed how much happier and more positive the veterans are,” she said. “It’s like a sigh of relief to know that we’re not going anywhere. I hadn’t really realized it because I see it every day. But we now have this big, bright location. We raised the roof and put in clearstory windows, so we have tons of natural light, which also obviously helps with everybody’s mental health. It’s a great feeling. We’re super excited for the future.”