San Bernardino Valley College receives $200,000 grant to support student veterans

San Bernardino Valley College (SBVC) has been named the recipient of a Veterans Resource Center Grant from the California Community College Chancellor’s Office. The grant provides just under $200,000 to enhance and expand services of the Veterans Resource Center (VRC) by allowing SBVC to purchase a new, ADA-friendly mobile cart, laptops and wireless access points, update the center’s front-line check-in area and replace worn flags, banners and emblems.

“The Veterans Resource Center at San Bernardino Valley College serves as a valuable resource and service hub for our student veterans and their families,” said SBVC President Diana Z. Rodriguez. “Being awarded this grant from the Chancellor’s Office will allow us to make necessary upgrades to our facility and better support our veterans as they strive for success.”

SVBC’s VRC opened in 2012 to support counseling, educational planning and transitional services to veterans and their dependents. The center was founded on the premise that challenges faced by veterans could be supported through a combination of student services, peer-to-peer networking and camaraderie through their transition to a nonmilitary lifestyle. Students utilizing the VRC receive academic and career advising, tutoring, peer advising and access to wellness and educational counseling.

An estimated 1.8 million veterans reside in California. As veterans return from their service, many look to their local community college as an affordable and accessible education option, and nearly 80,000 veterans and active duty service members enroll at California community colleges each year. The 2017-18 State Budget appropriated $5 million to be distributed by the Chancellor’s Office to applicants selected to participate in the Veterans Resource Center Grant Program. This one-time program provides grants to California community colleges to establish new or enhance existing on-campus Veterans Resource Centers.

For more information on the Veterans Resource Center at San Bernardino Valley College, visit www.valleycollege.edu/vrc.