A former medical office facility in Joliet will be renovated into a comprehensive veterans support campus by 2026, under a plan by Will County and the Will County Veterans Assistance Commission.
The county bought a vacant building in 2023 at 1300 Copperfield Ave., that was once connected to the former Silver Cross Hospital. The four-story building was constructed in 2003 and was a medical professional building through 2010.
The county is working with Legat Architects on renovations to serve veterans and their families, said Mike Theodore, spokesman for the county executive’s office. The county budgeted $4 million in its fiscal year 2025 budget, to will be voted on in November, to retrofit the interior, replace the roof and rehabilitate critical systems such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning units, and elevators and utilities, he said.
Next door is the Hines VA Joliet Community Based Outpatient Clinic and the Volunteers of America Illinois Hope Manor Housing, a housing development specifically designed for veterans with families.
Adding the Veterans Assistance Commission to the campus will increase the services offered in one place, Will County officials said.
“We are thinking big on this project,” County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant said.
Jen Solum, superintendent of the Veterans Assistance Commission, said Will County is home to the third largest veteran population in Illinois with just under 30,000 veterans.
The veterans campus will allow the commission to expand existing services, decrease wait times and reach more veterans, Solum said.
The commission’s existing office space at 2400 Glenwood Ave., Joliet, is about 7,000 square feet. Plans for the new building include retrofitting the former medical center’s 72,000 square feet to meet the needs of the commission and other veteran organizations.
“We are robbing Peter to pay Paul for space; we are busting at the seams, Solum said. “Don’t get me wrong. We are awesome. We are knocking it out of the park. But what we can do with a greater space and a bigger facility will be amazing.”
The commission has 10 staff members, seven who are full-time veteran service officers, Solum said. The commission is also the only one in the state to include in-house staff from the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.
They help veterans navigate the bureaucracy so they can obtain state and federal assistance, including pensions, disability, retirement and educational benefits, Solum said. Financial assistance for rent, utilities, food and transportation is also available to veterans who fall below 150% of the federal poverty line, she said.
“It is a lot for someone to navigate on their own,” Solum said. “Our number one goal is service. We never tell a veteran or their family no.”
Sometimes they are booked out for five weeks, which is not acceptable, Solum said. Demand for assistance has risen over the years.
Solum said the commission would like to hire more staff to shorten the wait times for veterans to get the services they need.
Having the commission next to the VA outpatient clinic and the veterans’ housing development also will be more convenient for veterans to use its services, Solum said. One complaint veterans have is having to drive from location to location for different needs. Sometimes, transportation is a problem, Solum said. Serving veterans in a timely fashion is important, she said.
The new campus will offer a one-stop shop for veteran services, Solum said.
For instance, if a doctor at the VA clinic diagnoses a veteran with a disability, they can walk next door and get claims filed the same day, she said.
The new building will also allow the commission to hire more counselors, expand its mental health programs and offer help to spouses and widows of veterans, Solum said. They can offer classes in financial literacy or cooking, improve veterans’ physical health through an onsite fitness center and build camaraderie by offering a place for veterans to meet, she said.
The commission will occupy at least the first two floors of the four-story building with other space for outside agencies that serve veterans.
The county is in discussion with Joliet officials to see if the building could be used for emergency transitional housing to combat veteran homelessness until the Veterans Assistance Commission can find the veteran permanent housing, Bertino-Tarrant said.
Bertino-Tarrant said the campus will be unique and one of the first in the nation to bring all these resources together.
“One thing even a divided County Board can agree on is that this is a positive move for the county to show we appreciate the people who have served our country,” Bertino-Tarrant said. “We know Will County is going to continue to grow and we want to take care of our veterans.”
County Board Chair Judy Ogalla said members of the County Board and the Veterans Assistance Commission have talked extensively about plans for the building. She noted two members of the board are veterans.
“It’s a great location to have multiple services in one spot,” said Ogalla, a Monee Republican. “We are taking care of and thanking our veterans for all they have done for us.”
Meta Mueller, an Aurora Democrat who chairs the County Board’s Capital Improvements Committee, said after years of discussion, she is glad the project is going to come to fruition.
The building isn’t very old so she hopes renovations go smoothly, she said. County staff will update the Capital Improvements Committee on the progress.
“I am very excited about this project,” Mueller said. “We all care very much about our veterans.”
Construction is estimated to be completed by early 2026, county officials said.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter.
