By Mike Sever

Record-Courier staff writer

Russell Fennell said Freedom House has given him a chance to get his life in order.

"Now I'm ready to change, do certain positive things that I was not ready to do" three months ago, Fennell said. That's when he came to the facility in Kent that gives homeless veterans a place to build some stability and start over.

Army veteran Fennell is a tall man with close-cropped white hair who says veterans have to take responsibility for the choices they make. Once you do that, you're ready to move on, he said.

Fennell and David, an Air Force veteran who did not want to give his last name, are two of about a dozen veterans now living in Freedom House.

David has been at Freedom House for a month and a half. "It's a safe haven," he said. He said his drop into homelessness began after he lost his job and his daughter died.

"It kind of threw me off balance. Soon I was homeless. I never had any expectations it would come to that," he said.

David said he came to Freedom House looking "for a place to rebuild some semblance of normality. This has been it for me."

Freedom House is a program of Family & Community Services Inc. It was built with the help of local veterans groups and social agencies. The center can house up to 14 men.

Matthew Slater, program director, said the center has programs in chemical dependency and counseling and has a veteran advocate to help overcome barriers to employment.

"We're trying to change their thought process," Slater said. "That can take some time."

It also provides services after veterans move out, and for other veterans such as counseling for recent combat veterans and their spouses.

Three years ago, Freedom House opened in an old home on South Willow Street with room for eight. It quickly outgrew its limited space. A larger, 14-bed facility opened this past May. A grand opening celebration is scheduled for Sept. 11.

Veterans can stay for up to two years as long as they make progress on getting a job and permanent housing.

Slater said 17 rooms were "adopted" by organizations and groups, which donated from $1,200 to $15,000 to outfit them. The facility has a kitchen, dining room, multipurpose room, bedrooms, laundry room and offices. It is connected to Miller Community House, a shelter for homeless families.

The shelter was built with money from a Veterans Administration grant, which supplied 65 percent of the money. The rest came from local VFWs, American Legions and other organizations. Volunteers from the Portage County Habitat for Humanity affiliate did the construction. The program raised $250,000 in a year to provide the local match and to furnish the facility, Slater said.