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Arkansas Division of Community Correction agents stopped by The Bob Davis Veteran Center in Mountain Home Tuesday afternoon to donate funds and take a tour of the newly opened veteran center.
Arkansas Community Correction (ACC) donated $250 to The Bob Davis Veteran Center and will receive a spot on the center’s Wall of Honor.
“We’re not a fit for everybody,” said Joanna Farris, secretary/treasurer for The Bob Davis Veteran Center. “We’re a working center, and we’re not a free ride. Our whole goal is to you back into a productive member of society. It’s a hand-up, not a handout.”
The Bob Davis Veteran Center is currently going through a soft launch before its grand opening in March and has begun housing struggling veterans in search of work and a better life.
James Johnson (left) and Bob Agosti (right) share a laugh at The Bob Davis Veteran Center. Photo by Chris Fulton/MHO.
Curtis Grant (left) and Joanna Farris (right) smile in front of The Bob Davis Veteran Centers Wall of Honor. Grant serves as president for the veteran center.
Arkansas Division of Community Correction agents pose for a photo after donating $250 to The Bob Davis Veteran Center.
Members of The Bob Davis Veteran Center sit down and talk about the upcoming grand opening of the center. Photo by Chris Fulton/MHO.
The center, named after Mountain Home veteran Bob Davis, was created by Farris and the Twin Lakes Thunder Rally after an anonymous donor approached them before backing out after they agreed to take on the task of building the center.
“We started this with $5,000 from the Twin Lakes Thunder Rally, and this is where we’re at now,” Farris said. “We’ve done it all without any kind of government intervention. We’ve done it all with fundraisers and public donations and a lot of volunteers.”
Farris and the Twin Lakes Thunder Rally purchased Mountain Home’s former Assembly of God church in 2019 and spent the next two years renovating the building in preparation for the center’s launch.
Renovations slowed down in 2021 after the COVID-19 pandemic put a strain on the city’s workforce and slowed down the center’s ability to get the supplies it needed to finish the job.
Farris and the Twin Lakes Thunder Rally donated over $300,000 to renovate and open the center. The shelter is currently providing aid to three veterans.
“We’ll do the grand opening sometime in mid-March,” Farris said. “We are open, and if it stays cold, we’ll have more people over. The coffee hut will be open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.”
Bob Davis was a World War II veteran who moved to Mountain Home in 1977. Known for his ability to fix anything, Davis opened the Mountain Home Machine Shop and was considered a walking encyclopedia of knowledge surrounding machinery.
Before moving to Mountain Home, Davis pioneered the design and manufacture of plastic egg cartons, Styrofoam drinking cups, and aluminum cookie baking sheets.
He was known for his passion for riding motorcycles and regularly rode his 1956 Motoguzzi around Mountain Home. Davis passed away in August of 2019.
His facility features a game room, coffee hut, and a business center for veterans. The center’s living facilities include full bathrooms, bedrooms, an industrial kitchen, dining room, living room, and locker room.
A photo of one of the bunk rooms inside The Bob Davis Veteran Center. Photo by Chris Fulton/MHO.
The Bob Davis Veteran Center features a full laundry room for its veterans. Photo by Chris Fulton/MHO.
The kitchen of the Bob Davis Veteran Center. Photo by Chris Fulton/MHO.
When they’re not working, guests at The Bob Davis Veteran Center can relax in the center’s television room. Photo by Chris Fulton/MHO.
Church services for veterans are held in the center’s dining room.
The Bob Davis Veteran’s Center is a 501c(3) non-profit organization seeking to give back and help homeless veterans integrate into society.
The center provides food, clothing, and shelter along with faith-based counseling, job training, education, and job placement assistance.
For more information on The Bob Davis Center, call (870) 232-0976.
