We're building a Wellness Center!
Live Together • Work Together • Heal Together
Believe in Wellness
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We believe that no matter who you are or where you’re from, everyone should have the same opportunities to live healthy and fulfilling lives. We want our neighborhood to be the healthiest and safest in New Orleans. The proposed wellness center at Bastion will bring resources to improve the health and wellness of veterans and our entire community.
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FAQs
1. What is Bastion?
Bastion is an intentional community for returning warriors and families. Our 5.5-acre campus includes 29 double family homes for a total of 58 apartments. Today, 110 people including 37 children live at Bastion. Since 2016, we have channeled over $14 million into rebuilding our neighborhood, which was flooded after Hurricane Katrina.
2. Will the property at Bastion be rezoned from residential to commercial to build the wellness center?
No. Under a new conditional use designation entitled, “Veterans Wellness Facility,” the property thatBastion owns will remain residential and NOT commercial. The building must function as a wellness center with special emphasis on serving veterans and available to everyone in the community. Moreover, provisos may be established to govern the day-to-day operation of the center that is not available under commercial zoning.
3. Can the wellness center ever be used for something other than health and wellness?
No. Only entities that are within the scope of the conditional use designation, “Veterans Wellness Facility,” may operate in the wellness center.
Bastion is an intentional community for returning warriors and families. Our 5.5-acre campus includes 29 double family homes for a total of 58 apartments. Today, 110 people including 37 children live at Bastion. Since 2016, we have channeled over $14 million into rebuilding our neighborhood, which was flooded after Hurricane Katrina.
2. Will the property at Bastion be rezoned from residential to commercial to build the wellness center?
No. Under a new conditional use designation entitled, “Veterans Wellness Facility,” the property thatBastion owns will remain residential and NOT commercial. The building must function as a wellness center with special emphasis on serving veterans and available to everyone in the community. Moreover, provisos may be established to govern the day-to-day operation of the center that is not available under commercial zoning.
3. Can the wellness center ever be used for something other than health and wellness?
No. Only entities that are within the scope of the conditional use designation, “Veterans Wellness Facility,” may operate in the wellness center.
4. What is Bastion doing now to improve the health and wellness of the neighborhood?
Since the first residents moved in at Bastion in 2017, we have piloted various wellness programs for residents and guests by leveraging resources creatively from diverse sources including public, private, and philanthropic funds. These programs include yoga, mind-body skills training, meditation workshops, and more. This wellness center will have space to expand these programs for anyone who lives in the neighborhood (including non-veterans).
5. Why doesn’t Bastion establish its wellness center in an existing storefront in the area that is vacant?
We love our neighborhood! After a citywide search to plant our mission, we settled on Bastion’s current location in 2012. We fought for four years to bring the project to life as we raised funding, assembled the financing, and advocated with local, state, and federal leaders. There’s no other place we’d rather be!
6. Why doesn’t Bastion build more supportive housing instead of a wellness center?
The wellness center at Bastion is an investment in supportive housing. The residents at Bastion are using the community to heal together, and a wellness center will equip the entire neighborhood with additional resources to overcome stress and trauma.
7. Why does New Orleans need a “Veteran Wellness Facility” when veterans can access the VA Medical Center?
While eligible veterans may access the VA, only one in four veterans receive their healthcare at the VA. That means outpatient services like rehabilitation following brain injuries are still needed in the community. Additionally, veteran family members and supporters such as spouses, caregivers, and children are not eligible for VA healthcare.
8. Why are veterans important to the social fabric of our community?
The development of Gentilly can be traced to the 1944 GI Bill which for the first time in our nation’s history allowed African American veterans from WWII to buy a home with a federally guaranteed loan from the VA. Today at Bastion, a new generation of veterans honors their legacy by promoting the health and wellness of the same community where they raised their children and grandchildren.
Since the first residents moved in at Bastion in 2017, we have piloted various wellness programs for residents and guests by leveraging resources creatively from diverse sources including public, private, and philanthropic funds. These programs include yoga, mind-body skills training, meditation workshops, and more. This wellness center will have space to expand these programs for anyone who lives in the neighborhood (including non-veterans).
5. Why doesn’t Bastion establish its wellness center in an existing storefront in the area that is vacant?
We love our neighborhood! After a citywide search to plant our mission, we settled on Bastion’s current location in 2012. We fought for four years to bring the project to life as we raised funding, assembled the financing, and advocated with local, state, and federal leaders. There’s no other place we’d rather be!
6. Why doesn’t Bastion build more supportive housing instead of a wellness center?
The wellness center at Bastion is an investment in supportive housing. The residents at Bastion are using the community to heal together, and a wellness center will equip the entire neighborhood with additional resources to overcome stress and trauma.
7. Why does New Orleans need a “Veteran Wellness Facility” when veterans can access the VA Medical Center?
While eligible veterans may access the VA, only one in four veterans receive their healthcare at the VA. That means outpatient services like rehabilitation following brain injuries are still needed in the community. Additionally, veteran family members and supporters such as spouses, caregivers, and children are not eligible for VA healthcare.
8. Why are veterans important to the social fabric of our community?
The development of Gentilly can be traced to the 1944 GI Bill which for the first time in our nation’s history allowed African American veterans from WWII to buy a home with a federally guaranteed loan from the VA. Today at Bastion, a new generation of veterans honors their legacy by promoting the health and wellness of the same community where they raised their children and grandchildren.
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Bastion, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, provides a supportive living environment for injured veterans and families within our intentionally designed neighborhood by augmenting their care with neighbors, volunteers and specialists for a holistic approach to community integration.
THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS:
THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS:
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Bastion was made possible with seed funding from the Bob Woodruff Foundation and Wounded Warrior Project.