Caring Services, Inc.

HIGH POINT – A local nonprofit that helps retired needy retired military members is getting a much-needed facelift.

For the last 10 years, Caring Services' Vet Safety Net program has been a safe haven for veterans down on their luck or struggling with addiction.

"They'll come in and be sitting with their heads down and maybe not even wanting to talk, and you'll see as the program progresses, their faces begin to light up, and that's the most wonderful feeling," project coordinator Pat Phelps said.

But over the last few years, the building has started to feel the wear and tear of housing 12 men at a time.

"For instance, the carpet was really worn. It had some holes in it,” Phelps said. “Just imagine somebody moving in and out of a house a couple of times a year, for 10 years."

Since its first renovation in 2000, the Vet Safety Net hasn’t undergone any major changes. But when they decided it was time, the veterans jumped onboard to do everything from painting to floor work.

“When I came in, I thought, ‘Well there's so much we need to do before we paint, like we've got to really refurnish this place,’ so I decided right then and there I was going to make a new home for the people, and that's how it started and this is how it ended and it's been a wonderful experience," interior designer Alan Ferguson said.

Veterans at the facility say the improvements will help them live and leave with a renewed sense of hope.

“Once you wake up and just look at your work that you put into the place, it gives you a peace within yourself to know that you have given back to what was freely given to you," veteran Jerry Hunt said.