At Veterans Outreach Center, we pride ourselves on serving those who serve U.S. VOC provided employment assistance, residential services, mental health support and many other critical services to nearly 1,500 local veterans in 2022. Our core value as an organization is RISE: respect, integrity, service and excellence. Staff members display these attributes daily when interacting with clients. Ron Hughes, the Fitness Center Manager at VOC, is an exceptional example of what it means to put RISE into action.
Ron served six years in the United States Army as a combat medic. While in the service, he became disabled, and then came back home. Eventually, Ron went to school and received a college degree in social work. He originally came to the VOC as an intern at our homeless shelter, Richards House. During the internship, Ron was hired at VOC full-time and has served as a manager in different departments around the agency for over a decade.
Twanda W., a female veteran that Ron frequently works with, came to him with an issue. Water pipes in her home needed to be replaced and she was unable to pay for the repairs. At the time, Twanda had no running water. With assistance from the Bob Woodruff Foundation, Ron was able to work with American Plumbing, Heating and Cooling to get Twanda’s plumbing fixed at no cost to her. She now has running water again.
Ron’s proudest accomplishment is to be able to provide veterans with stability in their life. “Just to be able to put these veterans on level ground. for them to be able to keep moving forward, it’s life-changing,” Ron said. Ron’s story is one example of the many successes we get to celebrate everyday!
