Mt. Carmel Veterans Service Center will be 10 years old next year, and the nonprofit has grown from its founder as the only employee in one office to a staff of 44 full-time employees, three part-timers and eight contractors in five offices across Colorado.

The nonprofit was based on the vision of the late Jay Cimino, CEO of Phil Long Dealerships, a Marine Corps veteran and  local philanthropist, who wanted to create an organization to serve active-duty military and veterans in the Colorado Springs area. Cimino, who died in February, recruited Col. Robert McLaughlin, then garrison commander at Fort Carson, to retire from the Army to help him start Mt. Carmel in 2015 to offer a variety of services to local veterans.

“His passions were Phil Long Dealerships, his hometown of Trinidad, Colorado, and supporting veterans,” McLaughlin said. “He bought his childhood church, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Trinidad, in 2007 and opened the Mt. Carmel Wellness & Community Center in 2011. He thought he should do something more for veterans in Colorado Springs and asked me if I would consider retiring and running Mt. Carmel (Veterans Service Center) with him.”

The center started out with a veteran’s resource center and took over an employment program for military personnel transitioning to civilian careers from Aspen Pointe, now Diversus Health, with approval of the Coors Foundation, which was funding the program. Mt. Carmel now offers educational, legal, financial and (veteran’s) benefits counseling and assistance to 95,000 area veterans and served more than 17,000 new clients last year.

Mt. Carmel became an Empty Stocking Fund agency in 2020 , which McLaughlin said offered the nonprofit “consistent funding for our programs and opportunities for collaboration with other ESF agencies that allow us to work together better to fill gaps.”

The center added its Next Chapter pilot suicide prevention program two years ago in partnership with UCHealth and last year opened the Colorado Veterans Business Outreach Center, which is funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration. The center hosts frequent “Boots to Business” workshops on starting, financing and successfully operating businesses through the Department of Defense Transition Assistance Program.

The business outreach center also offers counseling, technical skill development, comprehensive business assessments and mentoring services to aspiring and existing business owners who are active-duty military, veterans, military spouses and family members.

Next year, Mt. Carmel plans to work on turning Next Chapter into a permanent program, will host a Resilience and Wellness Summit to help first responders, military and veterans improve mental wellness and resilience, will expand its services to rural areas and continue fighting food insecurity.

Mt. Carmel receives financial support from foundation grants and contributions from businesses and individuals and holds two annual fundraising events, a golf tournament at the Sanctuary Golf Course in the summer and the Hoedown for Heroes in November. The center works with more than 200 community partners, including the El Paso County Office of Veterans Services and Care and Share Food Bank for Southern Colorado.

McLaughlin said Mt. Carmel is working on ways to mark its anniversary and said the center had touched the lives of at least 70% of the area’s veterans since it was founded through help with financial challenges, VA disability claims, mental health, suicide prevention, food and employment. Besides its Colorado Springs headquarters, the nonprofit operates offices in Monte Vista, Pueblo, Trinidad and Westcliffe, with plans to expand to Glenwood Springs.

“I would like to thank you and Mt. Carmel Veterans Clinic for all your support and assistance in helping me get back to school,” an unnamed veteran told the agency. “I am so appreciative of the laptop, books, and scrub top. I am very grateful that you were able to assist me with getting these things.  It has helped me relieve some of the stress and worry that I would not be able to get these items that were needed for the phlebotomy program.

“This will not only help me with school, but also help me to get started on my new career path. This will not only help me to make a better future for myself but also for my children.”