Naomi Outreach donates pillows to veterans house

By Eric Seiverling
eseiverling@yourmvi.com
Military veterans staying at Washington County’s Crabtree-Kovacicek Veterans House received a surprise Wednesday thanks to the Naomi Outreach ladies club.
The ladies club, a service group of approximately 25 widows who devote their time and money to supporting veterans here at home and overseas, donated dozens of new pillows to the 22-bed veterans house during a luncheon at Cedarbrook’s Club House Grill in Rostraver Township.
The luncheon was attended by 17 members of Naomi Outreach, members of the City Mission in Washington County and former auditor general and state senator Jack Wagner, himself a U.S. Marine who served during the Vietnam War.
“I think it’s magnificent what these ladies are doing,” Wagner said. “It’s great to see passionate people come together to help others, especially veterans. These ladies really care about others and they back it up. Look at what they’ve done in a short period of time. They send the message to veterans that there are people out there that care for them.”
Named after a biblical reference for caring for widows and orphans, the Naomi Outreach was started in the early 1990s by North Belle Vernon resident Joni Kelley. In the club’s early days, Kelley and her friends met at Fells United Methodist Church in Belle Vernon, but as the group’s membership grew, the club began meeting at the more spacious Cedarbrook Golf Club.
“It spread by word of mouth,” Kelley said. “Someone would bring a friend, and that person would bring a friend. These ladies’ hearts are so big.”
Kelley said the only requirement to join Naomi Outreach is a member must be a widow or live alone.
Previous charitable efforts by the club include sending packages to soldiers overseas and visiting local Veteran’s Administration hospitals. When the Crabtree-Kovacicek Veteran’s House opened last year, the ladies wasted no time in showing their support.
“I love these ladies,” Steven Adams, manager of veteran affairs at the Crabtree-Kovacicek Veterans House, said during the luncheon. “They’ve adopted our veterans. They find out what we need and they go out and get it. They have great hearts.”
Witnessing the ladies’ charitable efforts first-hand at the luncheon was Army combat engineer Shawn Roche, whose been a resident at the Crabtree-Kovacicek Veterans House since June.
“This is overwhelming,” he said, looking at the pile of pillows being donated. “They’re super nice. It’s definitely a blessing.”
A part of the Washington County City Mission, the Crabtree-Kovacicek Veterans House opened in July 2018 with the aim to assist homeless veterans back to independent living through career training, counseling for combat-related disorders and drug treatment.
“I don’t look at them as homeless veterans,” Adams said. “I look at them as men who have fallen on hard times. Life isn’t always peaches and cream. Sometimes, there’s sour cherries.”