Contact: Albert Renteria, Founder and CEO of SWVBRC FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Phone: 760-468-1315, Email: arenteria@swvbrc.org May 17, 2010
PERRIS, Calif. - The official grand opening for the newest site of the Southwest Veterans’ Business Resource Center (SWVBRC) will take place starting at 11 a.m. on June 1, 2010, at 227 N. D Street, Perris, California 92570 in honor of Memorial Day and dedicated to all the Fallen Warriors of Perris. This represents the SWVBRC's 4th Center with the other three located in Fallbrook, California, Spring Lake, North Carolina and Vancouver, Washington.
The Acting Under Secretary of Memorial Affairs Steve L. Muro, with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), will be the keynote speaker. "Each Memorial Day we commemorate those fellow citizens who served and died protecting us while in America’s Armed Forces," said Steve Muro. "We owe a debt of gratitude that can never be fully repaid to them, their families and loved ones." Contracting officers and VA staff members will accompany Under Secretary Muro so the many opportunities with the National Cemetery Administration can be shared.
The SWVBRC, founded by USMC (retired) CWO4 Albert R. Renteria, is a national public benefit non-profit California corporation dedicated to helping Veterans reintegrate into their communities after their active duty service has ended. It does so by providing training, education, and other resources to equip the Veteran for civilian life. Its mission is threefold:
- Empower communities with knowledge and best practices to serve Veterans.
- Provide a means for communities to learn about Veteran benefits and services available.
- Shape the future of communities serving Veterans.
“Our concept is simple,” Renteria explains. “We want our communities to serve Veterans who have served us unselfishly. Many of these Veterans need guidance reintegrating back into their communities once they leave the service. We want to be there for them like they were there for us – equipping them with tools to harvest their knowledge. Community participation is essential to the success of our program.”
One such community is the City of Perris, California. Recently, Albert R. Renteria and Albert Guzman, a former homeless service-disabled Veteran, met with former Mayor and current City Councilman of Perris, Al Landers, to explain its unique concept and approach. The Perris City Council later approved SWVBRC’s proposal to expand its presence and utilize a vacant Perris building for that purpose. Nowhere is SWVBRC’s motto “Where Communities Serve Veterans®” better illustrated than with this new facility as the vision of its founder continues to unfold!
Councilman Landers stated, “I am honored and humbled to welcome the Southwest Veterans’ Business Resource Center to the City of Perris. Our City has a long history of welcoming the men and women in uniform from the time March Air Force Base opened in 1918 to the present day [where] Perris is home to many Veterans of all service branches. We owe our veterans so much. This resource center will help those brave Americans who have kept us safe and enable them to overcome the difficulties many face as they return to civilian life. I have a soft spot in my heart for Veterans. My brother, Richard Landers, died while serving with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam in 1965. He was only 19, and his loss pains me to this day. It is not the minister who ensures us freedom of religion, the journalist who gives us a free press, the politician who grants us the right to free speech. It is the veteran. So if you love your freedom, thank a Vet. Web: www.wherecommunitiesserveveterans.org
To view a photo essay about the Southwest Veteran Business Resource Centers, visit http://www.ourmilitary.mil/PhotoEssays.aspx
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