Volunteers needed to help veterans service move to new home

The Ucon Market has been closed for some time, but pretty soon, a different group will be able to call the building home.

“This will be our base headquarters,” said Frank Smith, chief executive officer for Veterans Mobility Corp. “We’ll be able to deliver and build chairs out of here.”

The Veterans Mobility Corp., which repairs and refurbishes used power wheelchairs and donates to disabled veterans, has been working out of donated space for the past two and half years but keeps running into the same problem. The buildings keep getting sold.

“We have to move,” Smith said. “Every time we move it costs a lot, it damages the chairs and takes a lot of time.”

Smith had been working with a real estate agent, Colt Landon, of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Voigt Davis. Landon was able to introduce Smith to a friend of his who owns the Good 2 Go gas stations.

“They both are very fond of veterans and work well with veterans,” Smith said. “We worked out a deal to take over this old Ucon Market.”

Smith said that taking over the old grocery store will help save the group a lot of time and money.

“Everything will be here,” Smith said. “Our spare chairs, our parts will be here, the materials we use to rebuild them and clean them.”

The group has big visions for the future. They hope to clean up the property and even turn it into a place where veterans can go to socialize. In the meantime, they’re asking for help from volunteers.

“We have to get all of this junk out of here,” Smith said. “We are going to get all of this sanitized and cleaned. Then after that, we need to build some walls, and we need to move all of these chairs that we have.”

Veterans Mobility Corp. does not own the building yet. They hope to secure grants and receive donations from the community.

“I’m sure when (the community) finally finds out we have a home and it’ll be a permanent place, a permanent fixture, we can continue the good luck and the good graces of the community.”

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