Built to serve: Cuyahoga County Veterans Service Commission opens new $10M headquarters
- mdaviscvono
- Mar 26
- 3 min read
Published: Jan. 12, 2026, 10:00 a.m.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – After four years of waiting, Cuyahoga County’s Veterans Service Commission is preparing to open the doors to a new headquarters it hopes will dramatically expand how it serves the county’s veterans.
The larger, modern facility at 3950 Chester Ave., officially opens on Jan. 26.
It’s just down the street from the commission’s former location, but closer to other major social service providers that veterans may also need, including the Jane Edna Hunter Social Services Center, the Centers for Families and Children and the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless. Operating hours for the new facility remain unchanged.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Executive Director Jon Reiss told cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer during a recent tour.
But for Reiss, the new $10 million facility represents more than just a change of address. It’s an opportunity to grow the commission’s role as an advocate and safety net for local veterans.
He said the commission is often confused with Veterans Affairs, the federal program that provides healthcare and other benefits to military veterans and their families. But actually, the commission’s main role is to help veterans navigate that system.
“[W]e’re the advocate for the veteran in the process,” as he describes it.
They also do so much more than that, he said. The commission works to fill in the gaps when federal programs fall short and ensures veterans are supported in their home communities.
The commission provides a wide range of free services and financial assistance to help veterans through unexpected hardships. They’ve helped veterans with mortgage and rent payments, roof repairs, food, utilities, daycare, lawn care and even temporary hotel stays, when they’ve needed it.
Recently, they paid for CDL classes for a veteran starting a trucking career. Others received funding for a service animal, to purchase hearing aids or replace job tools stolen out of their truck. They can help with almost anything, Reiss said – “anything but property taxes.”
The commission gets its money through county property taxes, with surplus funds helping support other community veteran-focused programs that provide things like scholarships, housing and legal aid.
“There isn’t a set list of what we do,” he said. “We want veterans to come here and tell us what they need, and then we can decide if it’s something we can do or not.”
He expects the new headquarters to allow them to get even more creative with services and programming. This year, he said he specifically wants to focus on mental health, women veterans and fostering a better sense of community through recreational leagues or other shared interests.
One effort includes building up military honor guard groups. In the past, he said there were over 50 units that shared the responsibility of rendering military honors at funerals or representing their branch in parades and ceremonies. Today, there are fewer than 20 units, with many of them sharing the same participants.
If that trend continues, “there’s an increasing chance that veterans could be buried without honors,” Reiss said.
The building itself was designed with accessibility and growth in mind. The entrance is through a gated parking lot at the rear of the building, with 56 free parking spaces — a major upgrade from the commission’s previous office, which had no dedicated parking.
Inside, visitors will pass through security and into a spacious waiting area with ample seating, computers and a resource wall highlighting services offered by partner agencies. A large multipurpose space will allow the commission to host more education and training programs.
But first, Reiss said he has to make sure veterans know the office exists and stands ready to help them. While an estimated 65,000 to 67,000 veterans live in the county, the commission currently serves about 7,000 of them each year, he said. Most are from older generations.
“I wish we could get every veteran in here and let them know what their benefits are,” Reiss said, “before it becomes a need.”
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