ATCAA says: “Veterans, Welcome Home to Varley Place!”

The public is invited to attend the ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony of Varley Place at 1003 Broadway in Jackson, California, which will become “Home Sweet Home” for homeless Veterans and their families in Amador County and the Sierra foothills. On Wednesday, May 23rd, tours of the facility will run from 9:00am – 10:00am and the ceremony will begin at 10:00am. Representatives from the State of California and Amador County will be in attendance.

The City of Jackson’s Bartleson Building is completely remodeled into 12 spacious apartments: three 3-bedroom, three 2-bedroom and six 1-bedroom. In partnership with VA of Northern California Medical Services and the local Housing Authority, the Amador Tuolumne Community Action Agency will welcome Veterans to their new homes.

Varley Place is named for ATCAA’s founder, Judy Varley. Judy was forever a staunch advocate for persons struggling to thrive in adverse circumstances. She made her final home in Volcano but her travels throughout the US during the Civil Rights era brought her to the ATCAA Board of Directors where she served for over a decade, establishing one of ATCAA’s core values of People Helping People.

The owner of the Bartleson Building agreed to donate it to ATCAA in 2010. ATCAA’s Housing Resources staff requested the State Department of Housing and Community Department loan the agency enough funding to convert it to permanent supportive housing. ATCAA’s Housing staff worked with the Central Sierra Continuum of Care, a foothills-based planning board for homeless housing and services, to determine the need for Veterans’ housing. Sadly, there is ample data showing that nearly four thousand Amador County Veterans are living at or below the poverty line, and in the foothills, dozens of them are literally homeless.