U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, and Rockland County Legislature member John Murphy, R-Orangetown, help welcome visitors at the grand opening of the Rockland County Homes For Heroes at an abandoned Tappan military base.

Veterans Day 2013: Sen Charles Schumer says no American veteran should go homeless

TAPPAN -U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, who helped cut through federal red tape to make the Rockland Homes For Heroes project possible, on Sunday helped cut the red ribbon for the grand opening of new apartments on the site of a former military base that now provides housing for veterans who were facing homelessness.

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, and Rockland County Legislature member John Murphy, R-Orangetown, help welcome visitors at the grand opening of the Rockland County Homes For Heroes’ first eight apartment units on the site of an abandoned military base in Tappan.

The next phase of the Rockland Homes For Heroes project calls for building 20 new apartments on the site of abandoned Army buildings adjacent to the first phase of the project.

Three veterans have already moved into the first units just off Western Highway in Tappan and another veteran – who up until recently has been living out of his car – is set to move in to his apartment on Friday, according to Rockland County Legislature member John Murphy, R-Orangetown, who is chairman of Rockland Homes For Heroes.

Sen. Charles Schumer with Rockland County Executive elect Ed Day at the Rockland Homes for Heroes event.

With the first eight apartments ready, Murphy said the group’s next challenge is create more apartments on an adjoining section of the old U.S. Army Reserve site in 2014. The old base, long abandoned by the military and only partially used for storage, is tiny part of the sprawling area from Tappan to Blauvelt that once was Camp Shanks – a major World War II military base where U.S. troops were shipped out to fight in Europe.

After the war, Camp Shanks became Shanks Village, providing homes for veterans and their families as the veterans went to college. In addressing hundreds of people gathered for Sunday’s grand opening ceremony, Schumer said that it is appropriate that an area that had such a big impact on one generation of veterans is being used to help a new generation of veterans.

Veterans raise the American flag at a small monument park at the Rockland Homes For Heroes site.

“One homeless veteran is too many,” said Schumer, who has visited the Rockland Homes For Heroes site several times and on Sunday toured the new apartments.

In 2011, Schumer stepped in to assist the project when it appeared to be on the brink of collapse. At the time, the federal government was balking at extending deadlines for key milestones in the development of the project. At the time, Rockland Homes for Heroes was facing the potential loss of its lease on the site.

Since then, Schumer said, the federal government has stepped up its cooperation with the project to ensure that redevelopment of the old base in Tappan can continue without any federal roadblocks.

Fifty-two apartments – all handicapped accessible – are planned for the 14.5-acre site. The second phase calls for 20 apartments to be built.

Rockland Homes for Heroes is a private, non-profit organization and is a joint venture between Joseph’s Home Inc. and the Rockland Housing Action Coalition.

The grand opening ceremony included many veterans from Rockland County and their families, and included students from South Orangetown schools who welcomed the veterans to the site. In addition to housing veterans, the site includes a small monument park that has a flag pole and new monuments to recipients of the Purple Heart medal and a separate monument to the firefighters and police officers who died in the line of duty in the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on the World Trade Center.

That second monument was funded by the Dennis P. McHugh Foundation, which honors the memory of the New York City firefighter from Rockland County who was killed on 9/11. The foundation has also supported the efforts of Rockland Homes for Heroes.

All photos courtesy of Bill Demarest at Nyack Free Press. Visit Nyack Free Press to see full photographic coverage of the Home for Heroes event.